Like No Other
by Mephilia Venus
Summary: "If that's the case, then I wish for a world like no other, where different kinds of magical girls will help us! I'm sure that if that happens, there won't be a single witch we can't defeat!" It had been such a hopeful wish. If only, Homura thought, Madoka had known the truth back then. Maybe these poor girls would have been spared our suffering.
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue: Make A Wish**_

"Homura-chan! What on Earth is happening? What happened to you? Oh, you're hurt! Don't tell me you were fighting that witch all by yourself?" Homura Akemi stirred slightly, that faint flicker of hope in her heart relighting at the sound of her best friend's concerned voice. _No. Not in this timeline. Not since any timeline in a long while. _

Once again, Homura had watched Walpurgisnacht descend upon Mitakihara, this time feeling confident that her ability to stop time, combined with Kyoko Sakura's ferocious fighting skill, would be able to defeat the Dreadnaught Witch without the inevitable casualty of Madoka Kaname. However, the plan had gone entirely wrong. Upon the witch's arrival, Kyoko had decided to take matters into her own hands and begin the battle against Walpurgisnacht on her own. Homura hadn't been able to reach Kyoko until the scarlet magical girl had already been cornered by the Dreadnaught Witch's familiars. The witch had plucked up Homura before the raven-haired girl was able to activate her time powers, and hurled her into the river. Homura figured she must have washed up on its banks, and that Madoka had gone out looking for her. "Madoka! Please tell me...you came alone?" Her ribs were on fire, and she had gashed her shoulder in the initial fight while trying to reach Kyoko. But that wasn't important. Madoka hadn't learned the truth about magical girls in this universe. Homura couldn't afford to let Madoka make the contract blindly. Or, preferably, to make the contract at all.

"What do you mean?" Homura hated seeing the confusion and utter naivety in her friend's rose-colored eyes. Then again, it was better than the sorrow that always filled them every time Sayaka Miki became the very thing she had fought, or Mami Tomoe became careless fighting one witch and paid with her life.

"Madoka...don't become a magical girl just for my sake..." Her vision was darkening, and Madoka's face was beginning to blur. Her head was pounding. This was definitely the worst she had ever been hurt in one of her many battles against Walpurgisnacht. For the first time, the thought of what would happen if she died struck her. Would the hourglass on her shield activate on its own? Or would Homura finally lose the battle against her own wish? The panic that surged through her was enough to make her forget the pain momentarily.

"It's not just for your sake! I have to save Mitakihara now that Sayaka-chan and Mami-san have both been killed by witches! And you're in no condition to fight! I can't just stand by and watch you die!" Homura tried to sit up, and immediately regretted it. The simple action sent her into spasms, and she coughed up a startling amount of blood. If not for her Soul Gem's small amount of remaining magic, she would have certainly already died. She couldn't cry out as Kyubey appeared at Madoka's side.

_"Are you ready, Madoka Kaname?" _Madoka nodded. _No! _Homura wanted to scream. _Don't fall into his trap now!_

Turning to look at Homura, Madoka smiled and said, "I know about your real powers, Homura-chan. I figured them out the moment I saw you try to save Mami-san in that witch's labyrinth. You knew everything that would happen, like you'd lived it forever. I'm assuming you're going to rewind time again after this?" Homura forced herself to nod, tears threatening to spill over. She had come so close...

Madoka smiled that wonderful smile that had caused Homura to make her wish in the first place. "If that's the case, then I wish that when you rewind time next, the world you create will be like no other, and that more magical girls will help us fight! I'm sure that if we all come together, like Mami-san and Sayaka-chan wanted, there will be no witch we can't defeat!"

_"If that's what you wish, then your contract is complete!" _Kyubey blinked, and Madoka flinched as a brilliant pink Soul Gem erupted from her chest, where her heart beat. _"Congratulations, Madoka Kaname! You are now a fully fledged magical girl!"_

Homura could only watch, barely staying conscious, as Madoka summoned her golden bow, took aim, and shot a single pink arrow straight into the core of the Dreadnaught Witch. She didn't stay for the imminent explosion of energy that would result in her only friend's transformation into the most fearsome witch of all. But she did have to hear that horrible scream as Madoka realized her fate.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 1: Arrival**_

"Oh, Mamo-chan, it's just awful! I can't help but feel like whatever is causing all of these disappearances throughout Tokyo is something we should be fighting!"

Mamoru Chiba sighed, pulling his future wife into his arms. "Usa, not everything is an invader from some distant part of the galaxy who's trying to take the Legendary Silver Crystal for their own gain. This isn't any different from a normal kidnapping, the police will solve it soon enough. Besides, the girl was only just reported missing yesterday. Maybe..." He trailed off, groaning at the sound of the doubt in his voice. _Some comfort I am._

Besides, Usagi wasn't wrong to worry; there _had_ been an alarming number of teenage girls going missing throughout all of Tokyo's wards. Just the day before, the parents of a girl who attended Usagi's school had sent their daughter's picture to the paper after she hadn't come home from her friend's house. The sixth this month, the article had reported. "The police are totally baffled," Mamoru remembered hearing Usagi's father saying over dinner. "At first, they told us to report it as a kidnapping ring that was going after teenage girls. But then they found that one girl's body outside of the shopping mall the other day. Apparently, it didn't have a scratch on it, even though the girl had been missing for three days! If anything, it looked like she just simply laid down and died." Much as Mamoru didn't want to admit it, these did seem like the kind of incidents that usually occurred right before a new enemy surfaced.

Mamoru was brought back into the present by Usagi's ranting of, "Girls shouldn't have to spend their spring break worrying about things like this! Of course, if anyone tried to kidnap _me, _they would be in for a nice surprise, wouldn't they?" She imitated the pose she always struck when she was doing her speeches as Sailor Moon, giggling. "Which reminds me, Michiru-san is doing a special performance over the break in Mitakihara, as part of the opening weekend for their new concert dome. She managed to get all of us tickets, and everyone else already said they could go..." She widened her blue eyes as far as they could go, hands clasped in a pleading position.

Mamoru groaned; now he knew how Chibiusa had learned to beg so well. "Alright, I guess we can go."

Usagi let out a squeal of delight, heading for the door. "Oh, I knew you would say yes! I'm going over to Ami-chan's to tell everyone else we're coming!" Before he could stop her, she had already left the apartment. He sighed, giving a small laugh. That was his Usagi, she always knew how to get him to agree to anything. _It will be nice to get a change of atmosphere, _he thought, looking out the window. He could see the construction areas where Tokyo was recovering from the fight against Sailor Galaxia that had occurred a month ago. Mamoru was still waking up from nightmares where her voice commanded him to kill Sailor Moon, his Golden Crystal and Star Seed clenched in her hand. Going to his computer, he opened up his browser and searched for information on Mitakihara. _  
_

He knew it was a relatively new city; people had only started flocking to it within the past 25 years. It was being called a city from the future, with gorgeous architecture and state-of-the-art technology blending together like the world had never seen before. Construction on the concert hall Michiru would be performing at had only been completed three weeks prior. Thinking about the disappearances that had been occurring in Tokyo, he searched "missing teenage girls in Mitakihara area". An notice concerning a fifteen-year-old girl named Yuko Himura appeared. Mamoru clicked the link and found a newspaper article about two years old. The circumstances were so similar to the disappearances throughout Tokyo, it was scary. He tried to track the story, but the rest of the articles that week concerned a fatal car crash that had killed two government officials and orphaned their thirteen-year-old daughter.

Giving up, he closed his computer down. _Well, if the most similar case is from two years ago, it was probably just an unfortunate accident. _Returning to the window, he wondered, _So why do I feel as though we're heading straight into danger?_

* * *

The new universe began as they all did. Homura's eyes snapped open, and were promptly greeted by the harsh white lights of the hospital ceiling. Pushing aside the thin sheets, she walked across the carpeted floor to the small bathroom that was available in all long-term wards. After a quick shower, she was toweling off when she paused, catching her face in the mirror. She hadn't actually bothered to stop and look at her reflection in quite some time, and it _was _a bit of a shock to see how much she had changed. Her body was stronger, her eyes harder. Being a magical girl had definitely changed more than her attitude.

She pulled on her uniform, slung her bag over her shoulder, slipped the ring containing her Soul Gem onto her middle finger, and headed for the door. The long-term ward was largely unoccupied, which Homura preferred. She had found it was easier for Kyubey to detect her when people were making a large fuss over her.

The walk to Mitakihara Middle School was so familiar by now, Homura knew she could have done it in her sleep. Upon reaching the center of the city, however, an unfamiliar glimmer caught her eye. Turning around, she couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the brand-new Mitakihara Concert Dome, which had been under construction in every other universe. A work of modern art in itself, it was made almost entirely of various glass layers, with ribbons of steel that Homura could tell had been incorporated more for visual appeal than reinforcement. Although it looked transparent in the glow of the sun, Homura could detect a turquoise tint to the glass that would make it stand out even more at night. "Isn't it amazing?" she heard a schoolgirl saying to her friend as they passed by. "Rumor has it that the city received an enormous donation from some famous musician that let them complete construction months in advance! They're opening it this weekend!"

Remembering Madoka's wish, Homura couldn't help but wonder if this was a sign of things to come. _Could this universe be different?_

_Could this be the universe where I finally save Madoka Kaname?_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 2: First Meeting**_

_"This is it, Kyubey! It took us three days, but we've finally managed to track down this witch!" _Mami Tomoe's Soul Gem was glowing so brightly, it shocked her that the normal people around her were unable to see it. _"I'm surprised it's in such a public place," _she thought, looking at the street festival that surrounded her. All of Mitakihara was excited for the opening of the concert hall, and on a sunny Saturday afternoon like this one, the townspeople weren't above exploiting the tourists that had come from all over the world for the same event.

_"It's probably grown so desperate for human energy, it will risk anything. It's not unheard of," _Kyubey remarked. _"Or, more dangerously, it's grown so powerful it's become reckless." _Mami could see him perched on top of a booth selling flavored rice balls. _Maybe I'll get one once I wrap up this witch hunt. _As she approached a bicycle shop that neighbored one of the city's many alleyways, her Soul Gem began to vibrate. _It's definitely here.__  
_

Ducking behind the shop, she held out her Soul Gem and watched the entrance to the witch's labyrinth appear. The witch's symbol was a scarlet circle with rectangles on the top and bottom, and the entrance shone golden. Stepping through, she found herself inside a gruesome parody of the festival she had just left. Instead of laughter and the chatter of pedestrians, crying and screams of pain rang through the air. The dirt path she was standing on wove throughout the booths, which appeared to be manned by the tortured souls of people who had been absorbed into the labyrinth. Mami could just see the door that would take her to the witch at the end.

Transforming, she summoned a shield of rifles and began running down the path. Almost immediately, familiars who had taken the forms of grotesque festival-goers fell on her from all sides. She bound the smaller ones with her golden ribbons, while the larger ones were shot instantly. _This is definitely the second kind of witch Kyubey mentioned. _The path constantly swerved and twisted; all that was preventing her from becoming hopelessly lost was the light from her Soul Gem.

After about ten minutes of fighting off familiars, she reached the entrance to the witch's chamber. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door, steeling herself for what she could tell would be one of the most hostile witches she had ever faced. Summoning up a new round of rifles in a golden blast, she was pulled into the central part of the labyrinth, which seemed to be a parody of a traditional Shinto shrine. Th**e** witch was sta**r**tl**i**ngly humanoid, although its appearan**c**e wouldn't h**a**ve deceived any magical girl who knew what they were doing. Its garb resembled that of a miko's, although instead of arms, the witch had what appeared to be tree branches. Her head was that of a straw doll's. A harsh rattling sound filled the air, and Mami could smell something burning.

Aiming her first rifle, she muttered, "Okay, let's wrap this up quickly!"

* * *

"Alright everyone, great job! Go get a few hours of rest before the opening tonight!" Michiru Kaioh put her violin in its case, sat up, and stretched. It had been a long, grueling dress rehearsal, even without the lead pianist constantly attempting to hit on her. _Thank goodness Haruka wasn't here to see that. _She laughed, heading off to her dressing room.

As she was brushing her hair, she noticed a faint glow coming from her bag, which was sitting in the corner. _If that's Haruka calling, she got here awfully early. It's almost a three-hour drive from Tokyo! _But no, it wasn't her phone. Her mirror hadn't shone like this since the battle against Mistress Nine. _What could be so powerful as to set it off like this?_

Waving her hand over the surface, she saw a girl who appeared to be Usagi's age, only instead of odango buns, her hair was in tight curls. In a flash of golden light, five rifles appeared around her, and she pointed her finger towards...what was that? It looked like a youma, but it had an unearthly quality to it, something that screamed _wrong. _Michiru stared, frozen in horror. Since the picture was so clear, this was obviously happening nearby, maybe even right outside the concert hall. She found herself unconsciously reaching for the henshin stick she always kept in her bag.

Bolting out of the building, she held the mirror close to her heart, feeling it resonate with the magic patterns as she raced down the street. As she neared a shop selling bicycles, the atmosphere grew charged with that imminent sense of danger she knew too well. Ducking behind the building, she saw what looked to be a golden portal with a scarlet seal in the middle. She sighed, knowing what she had to do.

"Neptune Crystal Power, Make Up!"

* * *

Mami had known the battle would be difficult, but she seemed to have made absolutely no progress since she had fired the first shot. The witch was flailing her arms in a side-to-side pattern, knocking any attacks Mami attempted to the side. The only reason Mami hadn't been killed long ago was because she had weaved a shield out of her ribbons, which was currently suspended in front of her. She had circled the witch three times in an attempt to find a weak spot. She didn't want to risk using Tiro Finale just yet. If it missed, she would certainly be done for.

Mami had considered the attack she liked to call Rifle Storm, but it always exhausted her magic, and if she was forced to retreat, she didn't have any Grief Seeds left to purify her Soul Gem. Summoning up another quintet of rifles, she pointed at the witch and shouted, "Fire!" A hailstorm of golden magic streaked towards the witch, who held up her arms to deflect the bullets. _Wait, _Mami realized. _She's guarding her face! That must be her weak spot!_

She ducked behind one of the trees in the clearing, reorganizing her ribbon shield into an incredibly flimsy-looking staircase. _It's better than nothing, _she grimaced. She jumped onto the makeshift platform, behind what she hoped was the witch's blind spot. _Now or never. _Pulling her necktie from her collar, she transformed it into the massive gun with a golden flash. "Tiro-"

Out of nowhere, a rope of prayer beads shot out from the witch's robes and bound themselves around Mami. She plummeted to the ground, her necktie landing too far away to retrieve. The witch's arm was sweeping towards her now, jagged branches ready to impale the yellow magical girl where she lay. Mami braced herself for the end, hoping it would be quick...

"Submarine Violin Tide!" A globe of water rushed past Mami, and beautiful music filled the air, drowning out the screams of the witch as she was engulfed. The witch exploded into thousands of water droplets, and the golden-haired girl felt the beads that had pinned her to the ground vanish. Jumping up, she summoned more rifles, just in case this new magical girl was trying to extend her territory. The newcomer appeared to be a year or two older than Mami, and she carried herself with the confidence of a fellow senior magical girl. She wore what seemed to be a white leotard that was adorned with dark blue bows on the chest and waist, and a two-layered sea green miniskirt . The leotard had a sailor collar the same color as the girl's skirt, and pale green globes acting as shoulder pads. A golden tiara glittered on her forehead, while a dark green choker encircled her neck. Rounding out the ensemble were white, elbow-length gloves with sea green trim and matching knee-high boots. In her right hand was a small mirror. Mami felt as though she had recently seen the girl's face, but she couldn't quite place a name to it.

The labyrinth faded, and the girl looked around, seemingly startled. "Is that it, then?" she said.

_Ah, _Mami thought. _"Kyubey! I think your new girl found her way into Mitakihara!"  
_

The girl looked towards Mami, clearly startled. "Was that you inside my head just now?" Had Kyubey taught this girl absolutely nothing? Even potentials that hadn't made contracts yet used telepathy! _Maybe she made the contract in a hurry, like I did. Still, Kyubey was quick to fill me in when I woke up..._

Brushing herself off, Mami decided to buy some time until Kyubey could come and sort this mess out. Holding out her hand, she called, "Hello there! My name is Mami Tomoe. You must be newly contracted, but I'm like you. Thanks for helping out with that witch, I thought I was done for!"

The other girl didn't copy the gesture, suspicion now registering in her eyes. "Like me? You must be mistaken. You aren't wearing a sailor fuku, you gave away your civilian identity, I have no clue what you mean by 'contracted', I don't know why you would think that thing was a witch, seeing as it was clearly a new kind of youma, and what on Earth is a Kyubey?"

Now it was Mami's turn to be confused. _Is this some insane cosplayer who's trying to take staying in-character to an entirely new level? _Remembering how the girl had blasted aside the witch with a single attack, she decided, _No,_ _definitely magical girl. So why doesn't she know any of the basic facts?"_

_"I'm afraid I'm completely blindsided by this as well," _Kyubey chimed in, jumping down from a rooftop. The girl jumped back, looking unnerved by the white creature's sudden appearance. _"I remember every girl I've ever contracted, and I've never met her in my life."_ Turning towards the strange magical girl, he added,_ "Although I'm intrigued by the amount of power within you. I've only met a handful of girls with the sheer amount of magic at their fingertips that you have. You must have made quite the wish."_

The girl took a step back, eyeing Kyubey and Mami like they were infected with the plague. "I'm sorry, I think you're mistaken. I've never seen either of you in my entire life." Mami noticed that as the girl said this, her grip on the mirror tightened, and her eyes seemed to be examining Mami from head to toe. _She's lying. Or, at least, she isn't telling the whole truth. Alright, I'll play along._

"Well, I'm sorry about this little incident. Again, thank you for helping me. If you hadn't shown up when you did, well, I'd rather not think about what could have happened. Why don't we just part ways and forget that this ever happened?" The girl looked down, then slowly nodded. Mami smiled. "Come on, Kyubey." Detransforming, she walked back out onto the crowded street. As she did so, one of the posters advertising the performer lineup for the opening concert caught her eye. Her eyes found their way to a young woman with sea green hair, clutching a violin. The same woman who had just saved her back in that labyrinth.

_Looks like I'll have to cancel tonight's witch hunt._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Three: Together Again **_

"Michiru-san, I would like to believe you, but I just don't think there's any way!" Ami insisted. Massaging her temples, the blue-haired girl groaned. "Sorry for sounding so on edge, but...what you saw just doesn't seem logical. If other girls like us were out there, it wouldn't make any sense for them to have not reached out to us. For example, you and Haruka-san had never met any of us before when you experienced your awakenings as Uranus and Neptune. Yet you still knew that your mission was to protect Princess Serenity." "

Don't misunderstand, I'm concerned as well," Michiru replied. "Actually, an idea occurred to me shortly after I contacted the rest of you. What if this girl is in the same situation that Vesta, Ceres, Juno, and Pallas were in? If that's the case, then that strange white cat I saw could have been controlling her in the same way Nehellenia was controlling them."

Ami nodded. "I suppose that's a possibility. Could you describe the cat again? Maybe draw a picture?" Michiru nodded, reached into her bag for a pen, and began drawing on the complementary notepad that had come with her hotel suite. After a minute, she pushed the paper across to Ami.

"It isn't beautiful, but it's accurate enough." Ami was completely baffled by the creature Michiru had supposedly seen. It _did_ have a rather catlike build, although Ami had never heard of a cat with four ears.

"Were the rings around the ears attached to anything?"

Michiru shook her head. "No. They just floated there." Shivering, she continued. "The worst thing about it was its face. I don't think the greatest artist in the world would be able to portray it correctly. It had a smile that looked painted on and fake, and beady pink eyes that seemed to be staring right through me, analyzing me. Like they could see into my soul."

"And it spoke using telepathy? It didn't physically move its mouth like Luna and Artemis?"

"That's right. Actually, the other girl contacted it first. I think it was serving as more of a medium between our thoughts, although it did directly address me at one point. Not that I understood what it was talking about."

Ami was taken aback by that. "You mean the other girl was able to use telepathy as well? You didn't mention that before."

Michiru shrugged. "I was still rather shocked by what had all happened, it must have just slipped my mind." She paused, sighing. "If only we still had Luna and Artemis. They might have known something."

Ami lowered her eyes, clenching her fists in frustration. The two cats had mostly recovered from the injuries Sailor Galaxia had given them, but at the cost of their speech capabilities and memories of the Silver Millenium. Upon examining them, Setsuna had concluded that both cats would probably be stuck with the intelligence of average felines unless they joined Diana and Chibiusa in Crystal Tokyo. "There, Neo-Queen Serenity would probably be able to heal them," the green-haired woman had conveyed. "But although it's the more practical choice, there's no guarantee that they would be able to come back to our time. The Time-Space Doors were so damaged by Sailor Galaxia's onslaught, I'm not sure they'll ever function properly again. If we send Luna and Artemis into the future, it might be forever."

The news had been a damaging blow to everyone, but Usagi and Minako had definitely taken it the hardest. Minako had been so devastated, she hadn't spoken for three days. "You can't really blame her," Rei had remarked. "After all, she and Artemis worked together for an entire year before Usagi even met Luna."

Ami looked up, an idea coming to mind. "Do you think you could find this mystery girl again with your mirror? After all, that was how you first saw her, wasn't it?"

Michiru looked uncertain. "My mirror only acts like that when it's in the presence of something with strong magical powers. Remember its original activation, during Usagi's first transformation into Super Sailor Moon? It takes something like that happening in a close proximity to where I am. For example, it wouldn't be able to detect you right now, since you're in your civilian form. If you were transformed, that would be one thing. But as Ami Mizuno, you're invisible to its magical radar. I can't simply make it hone in on a random civilian like what you're suggesting."

Ami mulled over this information for a moment, making a slight change to her plan. "Why not use it to find this strange white cat, then? If we can find it, I have a feeling this Mami Tomoe will be close by."

"We may as well try," Michiru said, reaching across the table for her mirror. She closed her eyes, and the look on her face showed she was in deep concentration. After a few moments, she swiped her hand over the mirror, and the trident etched on the back began to glow. Several tense seconds passed. Nothing. Michiru's face fell.

"It was worth a go-" Ami was cut off by the sudden appearance on the glass surface of a strange creature that matched Michiru's drawing. _Unbelievable! She actually found it!_ The catlike animal was perched on the shoulders of a teenage girl with curly blonde hair, just like Michiru had described. The girl seemed to be talking to the creature, although the mirror couldn't convey sound. Ami's eyes strayed to a small piece of paper next to the girl. "Michiru-san...isn't that a ticket for the concert tonight?"

Michiru nodded. "Let everyone know what we've found. And tell them to come prepared tonight. I don't want anyone to be caught off guard if there's a fight."

* * *

Sayaka Miki hadn't even wanted to _come_ to the performance. The only reason she had agreed to three months prior was because the _plan_ had been for Kyosuke to play a rendition of one of her favorite pieces. She certainly didn't want to watch whoever had been called in at the last minute to replace him, no matter how much her parents had sung the woman's praises for the entire fifteen-minute car ride.

Yet there she was, standing in the metal and glass lobby of the Mitakihara Concert Hall, wanting to hate it. So far, she was succeeding. The polished wood balconies with their metal railings that made up the second, third, and fourth floors hung over her head. They weren't pretty; Sayaka thought they were rather tacky and out-of-place. Hundreds of people moved around her, admiring that aspect of the architecture or expressing their excitement at getting to see this performer. Tired of hearing their obnoxiously loud voices, she turned to her mother. "Mom, I'm going to go look for Madoka. She said her family was coming, too."

Without waiting for a response, she turned around and began pushing her way through the crowd. After being momentarily blinded by a camera flash, a glimpse of pink hair caught her eye. She gave a sigh of relief as she heard her best friend calling out, "Sayaka-chan! Over here!"

Sayaka raced over as fast as her shoes would allow her. "Glad I found you! You have no idea what I had to go through on the way here!" she moaned.

Madoka's mother turned to her with a smile. "Sayaka-chan, how nice to see you! Oh my, you and Madoka look so beautiful together in your dresses!" Sayaka blushed. Her dress was a pretty shade of azure, floor-length, and sleeveless, with an ocean blue sash around her waist. Madoka's was the same length, and appeared to have been chosen by her mother, as Sayaka knew her best friend would never have gone with something strapless if she'd gotten a say.

Madoka looked flustered. "Mom, why couldn't I have worn something a little less noticeable? And the same with the hair ribbons!" Sayaka and Madoka's mother both burst out laughing. In truth, Madoka actually looked rather pretty. The dress was a pink shade of blush that matched her hair (which was done up in two cute scarlet ribbons) almost perfectly, and the fabric looked light and soft. Not like Sayaka's, with its itchy lace collar that would probably be ripped to shreds the second her fingernails touched it.

Her night would only be getting worse from there.

* * *

During all of this, Homura was creeping throughout the upper floors of the building. She had swapped out her sleeveless black dress for her standard magical girl outfit. The violet glow of her Soul Gem was the only light on the otherwise abandoned fifth floor, casting an eerie glow about the hallway. Homura supposed this floor was for storage, only accessed by crew members. With the performance starting in three minutes, it was likely they had all already taken their positions in the rafters.

Homura did have a reason to be in a dark, abandoned hallway above a crowded concert hall just minutes before showtime. Her primary goal, Madoka Kaname's safety. A hallway like this was the perfect place for a witch to lurk, and in the dark, crowded auditorium, it would be easy for Kyubey to lure Madoka into a labyrinth and convince her to make a contract. Homura was certain the white cat would be somewhere in the vicinity tonight.

There was one downside: Kyubey had finally taken note of her presence on the fourth night, when she had been forced to either transform or let a witch absorb a man walking home from his job into its barrier. Homura had emptied a round of bullets into the creature and fled before it could respawn, but the damage had been done. It knew her face now, and it was only a matter of time before it was able to track her down.

Her Soul Gem flickered brighter, but not the way it did when it detected a witch. It was reacting to a magical girl, and by the look of it, she was extremely close by. Taking a tentative step towards a door leading off to the rafters, Homura heard the distinct sound of a soda can being opened. Homura needed no more clues to discern who it was.

Reaching into her shield, she retrieved a small handgun. Opening the door, she pointed it at the girl. "I see you're prepared for a long night," she remarked.

Kyoko Sakura was not dressed for the occasion. Clad in a worn-out green hoodie and denim shorts, with a tangled mane of red hair held back by a single ribbon, her appearance would have probably given some of the more proper women heart attacks. Homura figured that was why she was perched in the rafters, almost directly above the stage, with a can of soda clutched in one hand and her Soul Gem in the other. The redhead narrowed her eyes. "And just who are you, huh?"

"That isn't important." Homura kept a firm grip on the gun, flipping some of her hair over her shoulder with her free hand. She was impressed by Kyoko's nonchalance, most magical girls would have quailed in terror the second they realized they were being held at gunpoint by an obvious veteran. "What interests me is why you're in Mitakihara when it's been the undisputed territory of Mami Tomoe for two years."

Kyoko smirked. "Could ask the same of you." Taking a slow sip of her soda, she let out a sigh. "It's gonna be a long night. Guess I've got nothing better to do. Though I'd be a little more conversational if you'd get that gun outta my face." Homura thought it over, then complied. She didn't take her eyes off the other girl, though.

Kyoko eyed Homura's shield with interest. "Should have asked Kyubey for one of those. Woulda made my life a lot easier, that's for sure." She let out a quick laugh, reaching for a brown paper bag next to where she was sitting. "Want a taiyaki? I probably took a few more than I needed from that vendor, but hey, you never know. One minute you're sitting and minding your own business, next thing you know, you got a magical girl pointing a gun in your face. Nice to have some basic comforts before you go out, y'know?"

Homura didn't accept the offer. "Are you looking Mami Tomoe or not?"

Kyoko nodded, biting into the fish-shaped cake. "Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I think she's really self-righteous, acting like she's gonna change the world or something. But everyone makes the contract thinking that kind of crap. You did, I did. But then reality hits you." Kyoko made a sweeping gesture with her hand to emphasize her point. "Nothing good ever comes from asking for the impossible."

Homura nodded. At least this was going better than her last meeting with Kyoko, during which she had been caught off guard while witch-hunting, pinned to the ground, and wound up nearly losing one of her eyes. Yes, she figured she should probably avoid that kind of confrontation if she could help it. "There she is." Homura pointed to the fourth row, where Mami sat in a low-cut, lemon yellow dress.

"Yeah, I spotted her ages ago. How could I not? Only one more obvious than her is bunhead up in the front. She wouldn't shut up until the girl next to her looked ready to knock her lights out. Looked like she told her something to that effect, too."

Homura followed where Kyoko was looking to a girl who looked to be about sixteen. Her blonde hair was done up in odango buns that had long ponytails trailing out behind them, and she wore a strapless white dress with gold trim on the bodice. Next to her was an elegant-looking girl with long black hair, indeed looking very frustrated. Now that Homura was paying attention, they seemed to be part of a group consisting of nine or ten people. "I think they're guests of one of the performers," Kyoko said in between bites. "Weird thing about them is that they've been setting off my Soul Gem all night. See, yours is doing it too!"

Homura's eyes briefly glanced back towards her Soul Gem, which was now glowing a bright shade of amethyst. Uneasiness stirred within her. It usually only glowed like that whenever Madoka used her ultimate attack. The one that only had one end. "Are you suggesting that they're magical girls as well?"

"Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Look closer. No sight of any Soul Gems, and when was the last time you saw nine magical girls in the same place without them all trying to kill each other over a Grief Seed? Nah, something more's up. That's why I came out. Figured ol' Mami would have some idea of why my Soul Gem's going crazy. She was always the best at picking up strange magic."

Homura mulled over this turn of events for a minute. _It _would_ be best to nip this in the bud if they're enemy magical girls. What good has ever come of more contractees than Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, and Kyoko in the same universe? _

"What do you suggest?" she said, turning to Kyoko.

"Hang on now, I never said anything about working together," Kyoko objected. "You haven't even told me your name!"

"Akemi. Homura Akemi."

"Kyoko Sakura. Nice to meet you. Well, now that formalities are out of the way, shall we get started?" She held out the taiyaki once more. Homura thought for a moment. This could be dangerous, and she would be losing a great advantage of Kyoko was killed so early in. But nine other potential magical girls? It was simply too much of a wild card.

She took the taiyaki.


	5. Chapter 5

**One word: finals.**

_**Chapter Four: Moonrise**_

_**21 days until the arrival of Walpurgisnacht**_

Stepping out into the empty hallway, Homura's peripheral vision caught a brief scarlet flash as Kyoko transformed. The red-haired magical girl soon joined her new companion in the narrow space. "So what now?" she breathed. "I'm not insane enough to attack them while they're sitting in the front row!"

"Of course not," Homura replied. "We wait them out. The longest the concert can last is two and a half hours. Once it's done, they'll seperate. If your theory is correct, I expect some will go backstage while the others will wait outside. We'll split them in half, making our job easier. If they are enemy magical girls, two against three or four is better odds than two against nine."

"Yeah, but I still know how to do math. I'm all for doing something other than sitting around and watching, but that's kinda hopeful thinking, isn't it? If we luck out, they're all rookies who can barely tell a Soul Gem from a Grief Seed. But if they're actual veterans, we're in trouble, and I'm not risking my hide if things get dicey."

Homura gritted her teeth and winced at Kyoko's choice of words. _If she only knew. If only everyone knew. _Turning to her companion, Homura explained, "Regardless of their experience, it will be easier to take care of them if we manage to split them up. To do that, I need you to create a diversion." She allowed herself a tiny smirk. "You seem like the type of person who's good at causing a spectacle."

Kyoko smiled mischievously, her eyes gleaming maliciously in the crimson light of her Soul Gem. "Should I bang some heads together, or just raise a fuss?"

"Do whatever you feel is necessary. Simply be sure that the safety of the audience members is never jeopardized." Homura knew it was a risk to give a magical girl like Kyoko Sakura such open instructions, but then, her red-haired partner didn't seem to enjoy following orders anyway.

Kyoko summoned her spear in a quick red flash, gave it an experimental twirl, and took the quicker way to the bottom floor by simply vaulting over the fifth-floor railing. Homura knew better than to be concerned; Kyoko's healing magic was actually quite stronger than most magical girls would have guessed on a first examination. However, the purple-eyed girl preferred to stay to the darkness. After ensuring the coast was clear, she made her way to the second-floor dressing rooms, found one that was unoccupied, and began to wait.

* * *

Sayaka splashed some water on her face, the cold providing a welcome distraction. She had been hiding in the restroom for almost twenty minutes now. _How long can the violin section take? __Is every performer playing some five-minute-long ballad? _She looked up, wincing at her reflection. _There goes all the fuss Mom made over my makeup. Ugh, I look like an owl._

Ripping paper towels out of a nearby dispenser, she began furiously wiping her face, hoping to remove the worst of the blue and black mask that had formed around her eyes. _If someone walks in on me like this, they'll think I got mugged. _As if on cue, a slightly older girl limped into the restroom, muttering something about shoes. Hoisting herself onto the counter opposite from Sayaka, she began pulling off one of her (admittedly rather uncomfortable looking) heels. "I swear, I'm never letting Usagi pick anything out for me again!" she was grumbling.

Sayaka took the opportunity to scan the girl over. Even with the red ribbon holding it back, her blonde hair still fell to her waist. She wore a sleeveless dress in a blinding shade of topaz yellow and clutched one orange shoe in her hand, the other currently being undone by its disgruntled owner. Sayaka was torn between offering to help and wanting to leave before she was noticed. The girl looked up, her mouth forming a slight 'O' in surprise. "What _happened _to you?"

Her eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Eee, sorry, sorry! It's just, you look kind of..." She trailed off, clearly thinking she had offended this stranger.

"Like I got into a fistfight?" Sayaka offered. She gave a weak laugh. "Nah, I just splashed a little too much water on my face. I tried to wipe it off, but I obviously made it worse-" Before she could finish, the girl was on her in a flash, attacking her with numerous objects that were being pulled from a small gold handbag. All Sayaka could do was let out a cry of surprise before her face was roughly assaulted by foundation and blush. The girl took a step back, examining her work.

"Better," was her final judgement. "Although maybe some eye-" Although what the girl would have done to Sayaka's eyes, Sayaka would never know. At that moment, both girls flinched at the sound of high-pitched wailing and a sudden pulse of red lights. Sayaka recognized the alarm from school, although by the look of panic in the other girl's eyes, she didn't. Holding out her hand, Sayaka shouted, "There's an armed intruder in the building! If this is done the same way it is at my school, they're going to evacuate the auditorium and place the building under lockdown!"

The other girl looked around wildly, then mouthed something that looked like, "Sorry!" And then Sayaka was curled up on the cold tile floor, reeling from a sideways blow to the head. When she leaped up, the strange girl was gone.

_Sheesh! Talk about every man for themselves! _Stumbling out of the restroom, she was nearly trampled by the stampede of panicked concert-goers shoving their way towards the exits. She heard a voice call out, "Sayaka-chan! Where are you?". Whipping around, she was relieved to see her mother, whose facial expression was a mixture of fury and terror.

"Mom!" Sayaka cried. Her mother turned towards her, only to be blocked from view by a large group. Sayaka's head was starting to pound, the flashing lights not helping matters. And then she started hearing voices.

_Sayaka! _

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide with newfound fear. "Hello?" she nervously croaked.

_Sayaka! You have to help your friend! She's in trouble!_

"Wha...?" Under normal circumstances, the sheer slowness in her voice would have been enough to send her into hysterical giggles. However, the current situation was unreal enough. "You mean Madoka?"

_Yes! She's about to become involved in something she has no business participating in! But you could save her!_

"Save...her...?"

_Make a contract with me now! It's the only way to save Madoka Kaname from being killed!_

"Contract?" If this was some prankster's idea of a joke, it had gone entirely too far. But no, sitting atop one of the ticket counters was - why hadn't Sayaka noticed it before? - a strange white cat. Time seemed to slow to a halt. The screeching of the emergency sirens and the cries of spectators faded, as though someone was talking to her while she was wearing headphones.

_I know the wish in your heart. I could make it so that, when he wakes up tomorrow morning, Kyosuke Kamijo will be perfectly healed. He could be playing the violin again within two days time. The whole world could see him from this very stage. _The creature blinked. _That is, of course, if you're willing to become a magical girl and fight to defend that wish._

Sayaka couldn't believe what she was hearing. What was she in, a shoujo anime? Then again, the idea had such a powerful allure to it... surely something that could call up such strong feelings had to be at least partially truthful?

She nodded. "Alright. I don't know what's happening, but if it gets everyone out safe, I'll do it."

A flash of brilliant blue light. A cool feeling, like being completely submerged in water washed over her. _Sayaka Miki, your desire has given birth to a Soul Gem and overcome entropy. Now go, magical girl, and fight for your wish._

* * *

The initial commotion in the front rows hadn't caused panic for everyone. Hotaru Tomoe was in her element now, calling out orders with a maturity that made her seem much older than twelve. "Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto! Find Minako and go outside! Transform if you think it's necessary, but only if there are signs of trouble!" The designated girls nodded, each also reaching for the henshin sticks that they wore around their necks. Turning to her teammates, Hotaru briefly met eyes with Haruka, nodding. "We're going backstage to find Michiru. Do either of you know which dressing room she's in?" Both Haruka and Setsuna shook their heads. "Alright then. I don't like the idea, but we'll have to split up. Haruka, search dressing rooms 1 through 10. I'll take 11 through 20. Setsuna, 21 through 30."

Nobody really noticed three teenage girls in dark dresses running into the wings, and even if they did, their minds wouldn't have registered it until hours later. Once backstage, they transformed and left for their designated hallways. Hotaru kept running straight ahead, silently thankful for the dimly glowing directory signs that lined the walls every ten feet. She checked rooms 11, 12, and 13, finding them all either unoccupied or already evacuated. Opening the fourth door, she conducted a quick scan of the room. Nothing. She turned around, ready to move on, when she heard a small clicking noise.

Whipping around, she found herself face-to-face with a girl who couldn't be much older than she, yet she was holding a handgun with a cold, merciless glare in her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you," she said in a quiet voice. "But I will if I must."

Hotaru quickly weighed her options. Her best choice would be to buy time until Haruka and Setsuna found Michiru. They would realize something had happened if she didn't meet them at the rendezvous point. Holding out her hand, her Silence Glaive melted out of thin air. The girl fired off six shots, all of which were deflected in a silver blur. "What are you doing back here?" Hotaru said, a warning now in her voice. "I don't suppose you're the armed intruder that caused this whole mess?"

"No." She was trying to hide it, but she was scanning the room. Hotaru had her in a stalemate, and she knew it.

"My goal was to get one of you alone."

Hotaru's blood ran cold as she realized her earlier movement to block the bullets had backed her up against the wall. The girl hadn't been trying to find a way out. She had been calculating the best method to incapacitate her opponent. Hotaru raised her glaive to attack, but in that moment, the girl vanished. Hotaru stumbled forward, whipped around, and was hit square in the chest by a purple blast from the girl's hand. Sliding to the floor, the last thing Hotaru registered before blacking out was a violet-colored diamond glowing on the back of the girl's hand.

* * *

"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!" Rei's call echoed that of her companions. Having found Minako already transformed and waiting in an alley off the side of the building, she had been quick to fill them in on the situation.

"It's a girl we want," she told them. "She's wearing a red coat, and she has an enormous spear! I don't know what her deal is, but I feel like she's not messing around. It was almost like she was looking for someone."

"What do you think we should do?" Usagi asked. "Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are still in there. What if she wants one of them?"

"I thought the same thing," Minako replied. She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, here's what we'll do. Sailor Moon, Mars, and I will go around the building and look for the girl. Mercury and Jupiter will stay here and wait for everyone still inside the building. Whatever happens, don't separate from your partner. This may be just one girl, but she was twirling that spear like she knew how to use it."

The three girls fell into a line with Rei at the back and Minako at the front, so that if push came to shove, Usagi would be least likely to be attacked. Even though Usagi protested it, Minako's response was always the same: "We're still your guardians. Even if we're all friends, your safety as our future queen has to come first."

Climbing their way up to the roof, Rei leaned against one of the glass panes to peer inside, hearing a quiet _ping _as Minako jumped onto one of the twisted metal bars that both supported and jutted out from the building. _They're almost arranged like a platform. It's certainly an odd design choice. _"What are you looking at?" Usagi softly asked.

"I'm not positive, but it looks like we're directly above the stage." Gesturing for the yellow-haired girl to come forward, she inched aside so Usagi could kneel down beside her. "See? I don't know as much as Neptune would, but that looks like one of the rafters that the lights would be controlled from. If we go a little farther up, we should be able to find the backstage area. I don't know how we would get in though."

Usagi giggled. "You could always burn a hole in the ceiling, like in one of those spy movies."

Rei couldn't help but laugh at the bizarre image of her and the rest of the Senshi dropping down into an unsuspecting performer's dressing room. They would probably all wind up in one enormous pile. "Shh!" Minako hissed from above them. "This is still reconnaissance!" She smiled. "Although I would love to see Mars try that sometime."

At that moment, something moved at the corner of Rei's vision. Springing to her feet, she pulled Usagi with her, just as a series of red chains sprung out of thin air. _If I'd been a second too late, that would have trapped both of us! _"We're under attack!" she shouted, hoping it would carry down to Ami and Makoto. Minako sprang down, her Love Whip already in hand. Scolding herself for her delayed reaction, Rei called up her Mars Arrow. In similar fashion, Usagi had her hand clenched around her brooch, ready to use the Legendary Silver Crystal's power.

Their attacker was standing in the shadows, although Rei could make out the glint of a wickedly sharp-looking spearhead. "Mars Flame Sniper!" The figure jumped into the air, and Rei's flaming arrow skidded across the glass ceiling.

"Venus Love And Beauty Shock!" she heard her companion shout. Their opponent's spear split into segments, coiling around the whip and rendering it useless, jerking it out of Minako's hands for good measure. Minako froze, staring at her now empty hands in shock. In that moment, more red links grew from under her feet, forming a cage around her.

"Venus!" Rei heard Usagi scream. She saw her remaining teammate run towards Minako, only to recoil in fright as the barrier tried to wrap itself around her arm.

"Leave me be!" Minako ordered. "Focus on her!" Rei whipped around, relieved to see their assailant now illuminated by a pale crescent of moonlight. It was a teenage girl with wild red hair, wearing a ruffled red coat and pink skirt. She had in her mouth what looked to be ... a taiyaki?

Swallowing the last of the cake, the girl smirked. "Sheesh, is that seriously all you got? You must really be amateurs to not even know how to regenerate your weapons." Rei didn't know what was going on, but the sheer condescending tone of the other girl's voice was enough to let her know that she should probably feel offended. As she opened her mouth to retort, two things happened.

The first was that Usagi chose that moment to open her brooch and use her ultimate attack. A blinding silver light bathed the rooftop, as a vague winged silhouette called, "Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power!" In that moment, Usagi's forms as Sailor Moon and Neo-Queen Serenity became one, forming an all-powerful goddess. Rei heard a cry of alarm from the other girl, although she didn't seem to be that badly affected by it. _So she's not a monster? Then why was she attacking us?_

The second was that once the light cleared and Rei rushed forward to help Usagi, who was now staggering from the energy required for the attack, a sky blue blur came from the alleyway where Ami and Makoto were supposed to be stationed, followed by the sound of rushing water. "Help!" a voice she recognized as Mercury's echoed from below. "We were caught off guard and Jupiter is hurt!"

"Wha - there's more of you?" Rei now turned to the girl in red.

"Well, yeah! But her magic is purple, not blue! Isn't that one of yours?"

Rei wasn't sure she could handle any more new surprises in one night. First Michiru talking about meeting some strange magical girl in an alleyway, now being confronted by an insane, spear-swinging - _W__ait. _"You! You're a magical girl, aren't you?"

Her (fellow?) magical girl raised one eyebrow, her eyes conveying even more sarcasm than her voice. "Really? You're just now figuring that out?"

_Forget the Mars Arrow. I'm ready to slap her. _"Since you and whoever else is with you clearly hold the advantage, could you at least let my friend go?" (Minako let out a cry of protest at this request, but Rei ignored it)

"Why would I do th-" The same alleyway where Ami and Makoto were supposed to be (although Rei was now highly doubtful they were there anymore) was suddenly lit with a golden explosion, followed by the unmistakable sound of many guns all being fired at once. Red Girl groaned. "Great! Just who I was looking for!" Turning to Rei, she laughed, "Looks like you newbies are off the hook for tonight. Though if you don't leave town, we'll be seeing each other again."

Usagi, who was just now coming to, moaned something that sounded like, "Lunaidontwannagotoschool." Her transformation failed, and her white dress reappeared in place of her sailor fuku. Mamoru chose this exact moment to appear on the rooftop in his Tuxedo Mask garb.

"Fine timing you have!" Rei snapped. "We were just attacked by another strange magical girl! This city is apparently full of them!"

Mamoru held up his hands in a defensive position. "If you're done yelling at me, I have some bad news on my end, too. Mercury is fine, but Jupiter has a nasty cut on her leg. It almost looks like a sword wound. And Pluto and Neptune are waiting by the emergency exit in the back of the stage. Someone ambushed Uranus and Saturn, so they're both out cold and need to be gotten out of there before the entire Mitakihara Police Department is here. There's already five cars by the main entrance."

"I'll handle some of them," Minako volunteered. "I'll change back into civilian dress and pretend to be some drunk and confused tourist. At least that girl was nice enough to let me out, eh?" With a smile, she turned and slid down the fire escape.

"You do that," Rei sighed. As ready as she was to go back to their hotel room and pray this had all been a strange dream, there was still Senshi business to be attended to. She turned to Mamoru, who was now helping Usagi up. "Where are Mercury and Jupiter?"

"Already with the others. Last I saw, Neptune had transformed back and was wrapping something around Jupiter's leg. Pluto's standing guard in case anyone tries to come back for Round Two."

"Good. I'll go down and help bring Uranus and Saturn around. Meet up with us once Usagi's able to stand." She sneaked a glance at the alleyway where the magical girl had vanished. It was silent and dark now, the fight had most likely been taken elsewhere.

_This isn't over. I don't care who you are. The next time I see you, I'll be putting an arrow in your back._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Five: First Act**_

Although nobody knew it, Madoka had always been scared of crowds. It was fine when she was at school or shopping with Sayaka and Hitomi, because there you had room to move around, and nobody pressed in on you. In a tight crowd like the one quickly forming outside the Mitakihara Concert Hall, though, Madoka felt read to suffocate. She looked over at her mother, who was talking to a confused Tatsuya. "Mom, I feel a little sick. Is it okay if I go to get some fresh air?"

Junko handed Tatsuya to her husband and turned around. "Alright. Just keep your cell phone on, and don't wander too far. The police are here now, but I still don't want to take any chances." She gave Madoka a sympathetic smile. "I hate crowds like this too, but you look like you need a few minutes to yourself."

Grateful, Madoka turned and followed the faint night breeze that had penetrated the masses. Within a minute, she had reached the police blockade that was being set up around the building. She watched as the last of the shaken and angry musicians were escorted back to their hotels, and traced the movements of the officers coming in and out of the building. Faintly, she heard a short burst of static from a nearby police radio. There was a tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me miss, but you're a little closer to the police line than we would like. Would you mind stepping back a few feet?" As the woman said this, Madoka thought she saw a flash of red light on the roof of the concert hall. The policewoman noticed it too. "Don't worry, that'll just be a news helicopter coming to get the story. There's no way anyone could get onto that roof."

Madoka's curiosity had been raised, though. Surely it couldn't hurt to get a better view from a safe distance? Skirting around the barricade, she came to a stop outside a storefront directly across from the glass building. She was beginning to doubt the light's source had been so innocent. For one thing, it didn't make sense for a news helicopter trying to get a good shot to hover over the roof. And also, shouldn't the sound of a helicopter be a bit more obvious, even among the noise people were making? Madoka was debating whether or not she should just forget about it when she saw a blue flash from a nearby alleyway, followed by a familiar shout.

_What would she be doing here? _"Sayaka-chan?" she shakily called out. No answer. Her instincts were screaming at her to go and find her family, but something was pulling her forward, almost like a faint voice at the back of her mind.

As she came closer, she caught the sound of rushing water, and a green glow now mixing with the sky blue one. A brief cry of pain, the sound of footsteps, and a voice that was undeniably Sayaka's saying, "Yeah! Take that!" Madoka rounded the corner and came running into the alleyway, stopping at the sight of... what on Earth was Sayaka wearing?

It was definitely Sayaka, who raced over to Madoka instantly, alarm in her eyes. "I can explain!" she said. "Well, only sort of. It's gonna sound crazy, but it only just happened around ten minutes ago. We were all running out of the concert hall, then there was this weird white cat thing, and-"

_"I can take it from here, Sayaka Miki." _Out of nowhere, a strange creature appeared next to Sayaka. _"Hello, Madoka Kaname." _It looked directly up at her as it said this, and Madoka realized it was talking to her mentally. Alright, one more strange thing that would hopefully be explained. _"I've had my eye on you for quite some time, so now would probably be best to explain all of this. Your friend Sayaka has already become involved."_

"I-involved?" Madoka stammered. "What do you mean by that?"

The cat blinked, flicking its tail. _"My name is Kyubey. I want you to make a contract with me and become a magical girl!"_

"Magical girl?" The image of her fighting in a frilly pink dress with an improbable weapon, cute attack names, a talking animal sidekick, and a mysterious hero coming to her rescue filled her mind. "I don't think I'm the right person for that."

_"You have a vast amount of potential. If you contracted with me, you would probably have enough power to achieve anything!"_

Madoka looked up from the strange animal to Sayaka. The bizarre outfit, the sword clenched in one hand, the faint blue glow surrounding her, it was all coming together. "And you've already made this contract, Sayaka-chan?"

Sayaka grinned. "Yup! Like I said, it's only been for around ten minutes, but things have been really cool so far!"

_"And there's a lot you need to learn. That was just a taste of what being a magical girl is like. You don't usually have to go after other magical girls, though. Your main prey are witches."_

"Wait," Madoka said. "So you were fighting other people?"

Sayaka looked down. "Yeah, it did feel kind of wrong. But Kyubey said they were dangerous. Actually, he told me that you would be in danger if I didn't make a contract with him."

_"And we're not out of danger yet," _Kyubey chimed in. _"Mami, what's the situation?"_

A new, slightly older-sounding voice entered the conversation. _"It's not good, Kyubey. This isn't just any rogue magical girl, it's Kyoko Sakura. I just saw her a few minutes ago on the rooftop. It looks like she provoked a fight with some of those other girls we were planning to approach."_

_"Come find us in the alleyway," _Kyubey instructed. _"I have a new magical girl who just contracted that you'll want to meet. There's also a potential who's a friend of hers."_

"Potential?" Madoka still wasn't sure she liked the idea of all this. "Do I have time to make a decision?"

_"In this case, yes,"_ Kyubey said. "_Enough time to think of a sufficient wish, at least."_

"Now, now, Kyubey," a new voice spoke up. A familiar-looking girl with curly blonde hair emerged from the shadows, giving Sayaka and Madoka a friendly smile. "Nobody likes a boy who pressures girls into things. I'm sure she must be feeling rather overwhelmed." She turned to where Madoka and Sayaka were standing. "I'm Mami Tomoe, by the way. As you can probably tell by the outfit, I'm a magical girl too."

"Sayaka Miki. Hey, I think I've seen you before!" Sayaka said rather randomly. "You're a third-year at Mitakihara Middle School, right? Hey, Tomoe-san?"

Mami had frozen in place, eyes narrowed. "Behind me, both of you. _Now._" In a brief gold flash, five muskets appeared in front of her.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Madoka stuttered, following the older girl's instructions. Sayaka quickly joined her, the three of them forming an odd triangle.

Without warning, all five of Mami's muskets went off at once, filling the alleyway with small bursts of yellow light and overwhelming sound. Seconds later, their surroundings disappeared, only to be replaced by... a beach? "Uh, what just happened?" Sayaka asked, echoing Madoka's thoughts rather well.

_"We've stumbled into a labyrinth," _was Kyubey's response. _"My preoccupation in finding you two took priority over sensing the Grief Seed."_

Mami closed her eyes, obviously thinking the situation through. "Alright, I want you two to stay very close. Miki-san, this is where magical girls typically fight. Each labyrinth is different, and anything can happen once you're inside, so don't run off on your own." As if to reinforce this point, what seemed to be a seashell with arms and legs began stumbling towards them. Mami held out her hand, and two gold ribbons bound it to where it stood, at which it fell limp.

"We're in luck," she sighed. "It looks like this witch is one of the more docile ones we'll encounter. Don't let that fool you into taking it easy, though. Every witch has the power to kill, and many magical girls have lost their lives because they charged in without thinking and expected it to be an easy fight." At this statement, Sayaka gulped. Based on the look in her friend's eyes, Madoka could tell Sayaka was starting to rethink making such a hasty decision. Mami turned around, looking the two girls over. "I can tell what you're wondering. Once you make the contract, you're in it for life. That's why I usually discourage contracting on a whim."

Running ahead, she gestured for Sayaka and Madoka to follow. _"One thing all Soul Gems can do is illuminate the safest path through the labyrinth," _Kyubey explained._ "Yours should be working in sync with Mami's, Sayaka."_ Sayaka looked down at what Madoka now realized wasn't just an accessory decorating her stomach. The clear blue crescent was giving off a faint light that floated in the direction Mami was running.

"That's awfully convenient," Sayaka noted. Becoming a magical girl must have made her friend a better athlete, because Madoka was scrambling to keep up. Then again, her dress wasn't making things any less difficult.

"Kyubey, what's at the end of a labyrinth?" she panted in between breaths.

_"A witch. They're the usual foes of magical girls. That's what Mami was talking about earlier. I've found that potentials seeing a battle with a witch is usually what convinces them whether or not they want to contract."_

"Here we go!" Mami called from up ahead. Madoka felt a slight pulling, and suddenly all three girls shot forward down a long hallway of doors. In the distance, Madoka heard the roaring, crashing sound of waves in a storm. And the witch appeared.

The witch initially appeared to **b**e a solid column of seawate**r**, w**i**th a wreath of palm fron**d**s where the "head" would be. However, sand be**g**an to ris**e** up around the witch and morph in**t**o various weapons, while more attached itself to the witch's body to form arms. Madoka felt a slight sucking at her feet, and let out a yelp as she lifted her foot to find herself sinking down.

"Kaname-san!" Mami called out. Holding out her hand, a platform of golden ribbons appeared beneath Madoka, lifting her several feet into the air for good measure. "Stay there! Labyrinths tend to affect humans differently than they do magical girls! Miki-san and I will defeat the witch!"

Madoka nodded, her heart now pounding harder than ever. She would have been pulled under without even realizing it! _What has Sayaka-chan just gotten herself into? This is no place for a human, magical powers or not!_

Mami and Sayaka leapt into the air, forming a gold-and-sapphire spiral around the witch as their attacks slowly worked their way up and down its body, occasionally dodging the witch's attempts at hitting them. After a minute or so, Mami reappeared beside Madoka, frustration obvious in her eyes. Sayaka jumped down next to her, breathing heavily and looking disheveled.

"What's going on?" Madoka asked.

"I wasn't expecting it, but the witch has a sort of armor made up of shells and rocks under that water," Mami murmured, eyes clouding over in thought. "Alright, here's what we'll do. First, we're going to attack the same point on the witch together. Then, I'm going to blast a hole through the witch's armor with an extremely powerful attack. Miki-san, the second that's done, you're going to go in and start slicing with your swords before the witch can regenerate. I can only use this attack once, so neither of us can afford to hesitate. Do you think you can do that?" Sayaka looked hesitant, but she nodded after a moment.

Mami summoned up ten rifles, and fired them at a spot roughly in the center of the witch. Sayaka followed the bullets, cutting into the witch with her blades wherever the blasts didn't hit. "Miki-san, get out of the way!" Mami shouted above the noise. As Mami pulled the necktie around her throat loose, Madoka couldn't help but gasp as it morphed into an enormous gun-cannon. The curly-haired girl winked at her companion, then called out, "Tiro Finale!" A beam of golden light shot straight towards the witch, tearing a gaping black hole right through her. Sayaka charged - but was thrown back by a sudden swat from the witch! "No!" Mami and Madoka both cried.

Forgetting the danger, Madoka jumped down from the platform to rush to her friend's aid alongside the veteran magical girl. Sayaka was laying sprawled out on her back, hand over her stomach, teeth clenched in obvious agony. The light from her Soul Gem - was it just Madoka, or was it starting to look a little dimmer? - was frantically weaving in and out of the blue magical girl's body. "What's happening to her?" Madoka half sobbed, half shrieked.

"Healing magic, nothing to worry about!" Mami called back, kneeling down beside Sayaka and holding her spare hand. "I'll try to send her some too, so she doesn't exhaust her Soul Gem too quickly!" The gem decorating her hairpin began to glow in harmony with Sayaka's.

Madoka briefly glanced back towards the witch. The hole in its center was still mending, although it was now a lot smaller. If Sayaka was even able to get up, could she still hope to fit inside?

Out of the corner of her eye, Madoka saw a red flash, followed by the world turning scarlet for a brief moment. The roaring sound intensified to where Madoka thought she might go deaf - and nothing. Opening her eyes, she saw they were back in the same alleyway, with a new magical girl in a blood red overcoat bending over to pick something up. Mami moved in front of her, looking as though to protect her.

"Kyoko Sakura. What brings you back to Mitakihara?"

The new girl turned around, something small and black now held in her hand. "Actually, you. Although I see you have company. More competition?"

"You and I never did see eye-to-eye on sharing territory." Mami shook her head, a look that almost seemed to be sadness in her eyes. "I haven't seen you in over a year. I doubt you came back just to say hello."

"Sharp as always," Kyoko said. "Although I'd rather we talked about this privately." She gave a very clear glance towards Madoka and Sayaka.

"I don't see the harm in discussing it here," Mami replied. "One is just a potential, and the other is so injured she can barely move. What could they do with whatever information you seem to have?"

Kyoko sighed. "Alright, you win. There are some new magical girls in town giving off magic energy I don't like. But the thing is, I just fought a few of them off, and they were complete amateurs. It doesn't match up, and I figured you might know something since you _have_ been at this longer." Her tone made it clear she meant that Mami should hope she knew something.

"Were they wearing outfits will sailor collars?" Mami said. Kyoko nodded. Mami thought for a moment, then held her hand out. "I'll tell you what I know in exchange for what you have there. If things haven't changed, you should have some spare ones wherever you're living while you're here?" Kyoko looked down at the thing in her hand, scoffed, and tossed it towards Mami.

Catching it, the yellow-haired girl turned and bent down over Sayaka, swiping her hand over Sayaka's Soul Gem. Madoka saw something small and black fly into Mami's palm, but the lighting in the alleyway was too dim to get a good look at whatever she was holding. Turning back to Kyoko, Mami continued, "I found myself in a tricky situation in a labyrinth this afternoon. One of them showed up and defeated the witch. If she hadn't, I think it would be safe to say I wouldn't be standing here now. But you're right, she seemed to have no idea what the witch actually was. She even left the Grief Seed for me to take, despite the fact that it was her kill. And there wasn't any sign of a Soul Gem on her."

"Then it's the same," Kyoko affirmed. "What do you think, Kyubey?" Madoka looked around, having almost forgotten the white cat was there. _"Well, as much as the idea contradicts the contracting system, it might be more logical to assume that these newcomers are a different type of magical girl than you or Mami. There's no record of Michiru Kaiou ever being contracted, and I remember every girl I've ever come into contact with."_

"A different kind of magical girl?" Mami said, her face a mixture between disbelief and thought. "That would explain a lot..."

Kyoko tossed her head. "Well, I don't care what kind of magical girls they are. They're still threats in my book. That reminds me, there's another girl who's definitely one of us with me tonight. She sneaked inside the concert dome, but-"

"I am here." Madoka whipped around, feeling like she had heard that voice before. In the entrance to the alleyway stood a dark girl who seemed to have materialized out of thin air.

Something clicked in Madoka's mind. "Wait, you're the new student who transferred into class last week! Akemi-san, right? You're a magical girl too?"

"That is correct." She strode past Sayaka, who was beginning to sit up, glanced at Mami and Madoka (had her gaze lingered for just a bit longer on her, Madoka thought?), and stood beside Kyoko.

"Well, one thing seems clear to me," Kyoko declared. "We've got nine magical girls we know nothing about, and for now we should assume them as a common enemy. Although I'd rather not hang around for any longer than I'd like, three extra magical girls could come in handy."

"Two," Mami interjected, gesturing to Madoka. "Kaname-san is still a potential. She only just became involved tonight."

"Alright, two. That could still come in handy if a counterattack gets launched. Assuming they find us, of course. I guess the goal is to get to them first. Unless there's anything you want to add?" Kyoko turned to Homura. The dark magical girl looked as though she thought something over, but then she shook her head. There was no doubt about it this time though, she had definitely looked Madoka's way.

Mami looked ready to decline, but Sayaka managed to stand up and say, "I think we should take them up on that, Mami-san. This Sakura-san is powerful. She took out that witch with one hit. What harm could teaming up for a couple days do?"

Madoka looked towards Kyubey to see if he offered an opinion, but the white cat seemed content to watch. Mami still seemed uncertain, but slowly nodded. "Great," Kyoko sighed. "Then I guess we get to be stuck together like old times."

* * *

At the moment, Makoto Kino was both extremely angry and extremely in pain - a dangerous combination for the Senshi of lightning. After a trip to the hospital that had resulted in fifteen stitches in her leg and orders for Makoto to stay in bed and do nothing for at least half a week, all ten of the girls and Mamoru had regrouped in Michiru's hotel room.

To say morale was low would have been an understatement. "We went down entirely too easily!" Haruka declared, too caught up in her own anger to notice Minako proclaiming the exact same thing.

Ami nodded at Setsuna, who drew in a deep breath and faced her fellow guardians. "Alright, I won't try to deny that was a complete failure. We all made mistakes, so let's not take it out on just ourselves or one other person. This has highlighted some issues we need to take care of before getting into any more battles." She first turned to Usagi, who still looked a bit pale. "Usagi, I know you had good intentions, but you can't use the Legendary Silver Crystal so carelessly next time. You need a way to channel its energy, trying to use it in its purest form nearly killed you. Maybe you could try to create a new weapon since the Eternal Tiare was destroyed inside the Galaxy Cauldron?"

Usagi looked unsure, but Mamoru took her hand. "We'll find a way," he said.

"I'll leave that to you two, then." Setsuna looked down at her own hands, then back at Ami and Hotaru. "As for the rest of us, we were foolish to split up like we did. We underestimated our enemy, and our princess was endangered because of it. Unfortunately, save for Haruka, Hotaru, and I, most of you aren't equipped in your Senshi forms for the type of combat we were engaged in. In short, we not only need to develop a new fighting style, we need to develop one fast. There's no telling when or where these other magical girls may try to pick a fight again, and none of us can afford to be caught off guard as severely next time." Sitting down, she looked around at her companions. "Does anyone have thoughts they would like to add?"

Makoto gave a grunt from the bed to get everyone's attention. "Yeah, I have a couple. For one, does anyone actually know who these girls are? Or anything about the reach of their powers? The girl that rushed me was summoning a ton of swords out of thin air, but she also had some effect on the water around us, kind of the same thing Ami-chan and Michiru-san have. She sliced open a pipe with one of her swords, and sort of directed the water to hit me in the face with another. Then she managed to cut me while I couldn't see. The only reason she wasn't able to do more was because Ami-chan countered with Mercury Aqua Rhapsody. She created some mist, and we managed to get away. We met up with Michiru-san and Setsuna-san at the emergency exit, and that's when everyone else got there."

"The girl I fought had even stranger powers," Hotaru chimed in. "At first it seemed like she just had a gun, but when I went to attack her, she literally vanished into thin air. Then she reappeared behind me not even a second later! She blasted me with some kind of magic, and that's how she managed to knock me out."

"Could super-speed be a possibility?" Ami asked.

"I don't think it's that simple," Haruka murmured. "She got me with the same trick too. If she had been manipulating the air in any way, I of all people would have been able to tell."

At this statement, Setsuna opened her mouth, as though she had an idea, but closed it a moment later. _She knows something, _Makoto thought. _Maybe she's seen something like this in the past? She _has_ been Sailor Pluto for thousands of years._

Makoto turned to Setsuna to ask this, but at that moment, Usagi gave a whimper. "Usa!" Mamoru cried as she collapsed in his arms.

"It's my chest," she cried. "It feels like I'm burning from the inside out!" Without warning, Minako swooped down and ripped the pendant containing the Legendary Silver Crystal from Usagi's neck. Sure enough, where the Crystal had been resting on Usagi's collarbone, there was an angry red burn mark.

"Ah!" Minako shouted, dropping the Crystal onto the floor. "It feels like I just pulled it out of a fire!"

"I'll contain it!" Setsuna said. Transforming, she pointed the Garnet Rod towards the Crystal, encasing it in a small pink bubble. At this point, the Crystal had begun to dimly glow. "That should keep its power at a stable level," Setsuna sighed, returning to her civilian form. "Good job getting it away from the princess, Minako-san. If given a few more seconds, the Crystal's power could have killed her, and potentially us as well."

Mamoru knelt down next to Usagi, gently shaking her shoulder. "Usa? Are you alright?" Usagi didn't stir.

"Usagi?" Rei said, rushing to her princess' side. "Usagi, wake up! Now isn't the time!" Still nothing. Then, Usagi gave small breath, causing some of the hair that had fallen in her face to flutter. "Usagi!" Rei looked on the verge of sobbing. "Why is everyone just standing there? Someone call for help!" she shrieked, half hysterical.

Michiru was the first to react, diving into her purse and emerging with a white smartphone in hand. Dialing the number for emergency services, she let out a cry of relief as someone on the other end picked up almost immediately. "Hello? Yes! My name is Michiru Kaiou! I'm staying at - yes, _that _Michiru Kaiou - I always appreciate fans, but - I really don't think this is the - THERE IS A GIRL HERE WHO HAS COLLAPSED, YOU ARE BEING PAID TO SEND AN AMBULANCE TO MY LOCATION, AND I WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE SENDING YOU MY AUTOGRAPH AFTER THIS SERVICE!" Taking a quick moment to inhale and exhale, she returned to her phone with her typical expression back. "Now then, I am staying in Room 396 at the Mitakihara Grand Hotel, and is there anything we should do for her while we're waiting for the ambulance? Alright, thank you!" Hanging up, she looked around, seemingly surprised at the shocked faces staring back at her. "They put a different operator on," she explained.

"Give the princess some space," Setsuna said, helping Rei up. "I'll see to it that the Crystal stays secure." Makoto could already see blue lights flashing outside the window.

What nobody saw was the thin, almost invisible crack that had blossomed from the top of the Crystal.

* * *

Homura acted swiftly, seizing Madoka's wrist and pulling her to the side while Mami, Kyoko, and Sayaka went ahead to make sure nobody would see five battered teenage girls wandering out of an alleyway. Nobody was in the mood to be questioned by the police for another two hours (or, in Kyoko's case, stay there waiting for a bail that wouldn't come). "Ah!" Madoka said. "What was that for?"

"I apologize if I hurt you, but it is imperative that you know the risks of being a magical girl," Homura responded. "You see, magical girls-"

"All clear!" Kyoko called from the street. "Sheesh, what's taking you two so long?"

Madoka turned to Homura, smiling. "Akemi-san, I appreciate it, really. But I saw what happened to Sayaka-chan in the labyrinth. As much as I want to help her, I just don't think I'm cut out for that."

Homura sighed with relief. This universe seemed to be on her side so far in terms of keeping Madoka safe. "That's good. Because no matter what that thing - Kyubey - (it hurt to say the abomination's name) tells or offers you, _you must not make the contract. _Do you understand?" Madoka seemed startled by the intensity in Homura's voice, but she nodded. Homura let her go. "Good."

As Madoka left to join the others, Homura turned around to be greeted by none other than Kyubey itself. _"Interesting. You can sense the insane amount of power she has, can't you? All the more reason to keep an eye on you, Homura Akemi."_

In that moment, Homura had never wished harder that killing an Incubator was as easy as killing a witch.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 6: They're Magical Girls Too_**

**_Sunday morning: 20 days until the arrival of Walpurgisnacht_**

When Sayaka awoke the next morning, her hands shot to her stomach, feeling for a wound, a scar, anything to prove last night hadn't been some insane dream. Nothing. Then she looked over to her dresser, where a silver ring with a shiny blue gem set in the center lay on the polished wood. _Not a dream after all, huh? _Her head, however, was pounding where the older girl had hit it last night.

Grumbling about the stranger and calling her several names that would have gotten her grounded had her mother heard them, Sayaka dressed quickly in a music note t-shirt and denim shorts, slipped on her new ring, slung her backpack over one shoulder, left a note on the fridge for her parents in case one of them got off work early, and walked out of her family's apartment. _"Hey, Kyubey, you there?"_

The white cat appeared next to her, walking at her side down the street. _"What is it, Sayaka?"_

_"Could you tell Mami-san to meet me in the business district, and we can start the witch hunt from there? I have something I need to do at the hospital first." _

_"No need to have Kyubey relay the message," _Mami said. _"I only live two blocks away from you, so we can still communicate from that range. No worries, Miki-san, we can get lunch at that new café and go from there. Or, if you like, I can just meet you at the hospital."_

_"Yeah, that works too," _Sayaka responded. _"I'll be in the long-term ward. Just tell a nurse you're with me and follow the signs from there."_

With that settled, Sayaka boarded a bus and found herself at the hospital a few minutes later. Walking into the lobby, she was relieved to see her mother (a resident nurse) at the front desk. That would make checking in much easier. "Mom!" she called, waving from the doors.

"Oh, Sayaka-chan!" Yuka Miki handed some paperwork to the receptionist and greeted her daughter. "I take it you're here to see Kamijo-kun?" Sayaka nodded. "Well, you're in for a nice surprise!" Sayaka did her best to look curious, which wasn't hard since she was dying to know if her wish had actually worked. "Well, go on! You know where he is by now!" The tall woman shooed her away and began to talk with another nurse.

Sayaka took the elevator up to the long-term ward, the doors opening to reveal a long, brightly-lit hallway. The floor was usually rather quiet (which was to be expected, given that most of its patients were either comatose or rarely had visitors), but today was a bit more active. A pair of hushed voices came from a room that hadn't been occupied three days before on Sayaka's last visit, and in a room farther down, she could hear the sound of a child crying. Sayaka wondered if she should peek into either room, but then thought, _No, best not to intrude. Who knows what the occupants are going through?_

After pausing to take a breath at the door to Kyosuke's room, she pushed it open, only to be greeted by the sound of a violin - one of the CDs she had given him months ago. No, the tempo was slower, as though being played by someone who knew the violin, but hadn't touched one in a long time. _Could it really be? _"Kyosuke?" she called.

"Sayaka!" he responded, the music stopping immediately. "It's incredible! I don't know how it happened, but look!" Pushing aside the curtain that sectioned his bed off from the rest of the room, he held out his violin, once-useless fingers gingerly plucking the strings. "I just woke up this morning, and it was like the accident never happened! The doctors have no clue what to make of it."

_Should I tell him what I did? _Sayaka wondered. An alarm went off in her head almost instantly. _No, I don't want to put him in danger after this. I won't get another free miracle. _Feigning shock, she declared, "Wow, that's amazing! And you're already able to play again with it, too?"

"Yeah," Kyosuke said, smiling. "I've been out of practice for a while, but I could play you something if you'd like."

Sayaka grinned, genuine this time. "That would be great!"

A half hour later, Sayaka was ushered out by a nurse. As it turned out, her wish had only fixed Kyosuke's arm. He would stay in the hospital a few weeks longer to finish the physical therapy for his legs, but after that, he could return to normal life.

As she passed by the newly-occupied room, she couldn't resist and peered in through the small crack in the door. There were three people inside. One girl was lying in the bed, a coma patient by the look of her. Sitting next to her was a man and woman. Her parents? No, too young. Maybe her older siblings. Then the "man" shifted briefly in his seat, revealing a small silver earring with a sapphire set in the center. Older sisters, then.

Intending to leave them in peace, Sayaka turned to leave, only to freeze upon hearing one of them whisper, "But what about those other magical girls?"

_More magical girls? _Ducking behind the door, Sayaka prayed Mami or Kyubey was close enough to hear her. _"Mami, I'm at the hospital! I think there are two more magical girls here!"_

To her relief, Mami responded almost instantly. _"Don't panic, Miki-san. We don't know whether or not they're enemies. What do they look like?"_

Sayaka risked another glance. _"One of them has really short blonde hair. I thought she was a man for a second until I saw she was wearing earrings. The other girl with her has longer turquoise hair." _At this, Sayaka felt a jolt of panic from Mami.

_"Miki-san, I think those are some of the enemy magical girls we talked about last night. Get out of there now, we'll meet in the lobby." _Sayaka jumped up, but stumbled, hitting her elbow against the door. A cry of pain escaped her mouth before she snapped it shut in horror.

"Who's there?" the deeper-voiced girl called out. Sayaka was trapped. If she approached them, she wouldn't be able to ask Mami for help. If she ran, of course that would look suspicious. The blonde-haired girl stepped out of the room, looking at Sayaka with accusatory eyes. "Care to tell us why you're eavesdropping on us?"

"Haruka, there's no need to scare her," the other girl said. "I'm sure it was just an accident."

"Sorry, Michiru," the girl called Haruka said. "I guess I'm still a bit shaken up." At this name, a memory stirred in Sayaka.

"Michiru... Kaiou? The violinist who played at the concert last night?" _The one who got called in to replace Kyosuke?_

The turquoise-haired woman sighed. "Well, I _was _signed in as Kasumi Kawaguchi, Haruka's cousin. I guess the charade is up, though." She directed a glare towards Haruka, who gave a sheepish smile.

Sayaka gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I guess I can see why you would do that. Well, sorry for intruding! I'll just be on my way."

Michiru looked up from her phone, which had sounded a violin ringtone. "It's alright, we'll just head down with you. The hospital only allows up to two visitors at a time, so a couple of our other friends are here to... well..." She cast a look at the small blonde girl in the bed, eyes misting over.

Haruka rested her hand on Michiru's shoulder, a clearly-pained smile pasted on her face. "I'm sure the doctors will figure something out. After all, this hospital is known for its cutting-edge technology."

Whether or not they were supposed to be enemies, Sayaka couldn't help but feel for both of them. After all, she had been in their exact same situation until today. What harm could just walking to the lobby with them be? _Oh no, the lobby!_ _Mami-san is probably already there!_

_"Mami-san? There's been a change of plans. I managed to win them over, and they want to walk to the lobby with me. Maybe you could just wait outside?" _Sayaka didn't like the idea of deceiving anyone more than necessary, but Mami was right. Whoever these two were as normal humans, they were dangerous as magical girls.

A pause. Then,_ "Alright. Just make sure you don't stay with them for any longer than necessary." _

Michiru requested an elevator, and the three of them stood in silence as they waited for a free one. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your friend?" Sayaka said, expecting no response. To her surprise, Haruka spoke up.

"She was alone in her hotel room when she must have collapsed. Luckily, her boyfriend called her and got worried when she didn't answer. He went up to her room and found her passed out on the floor a few minutes later. He called for help, and here we are."

Sayaka was skeptical. Haruka's voice seemed too flat, like she had already rehearsed it dozens of times. And her voice had stumbled at the beginning, causing Sayaka to doubt, if anything else, that the girl in the bed had been alone in her hotel room. _They've clearly got something they want to hide. Should I keep pressing? _Although she would never have gotten the chance, because right then, an elevator door opened with a pleasant _ding_, and two teenage girls walked out. One had long, raven-black hair, and carried herself with an air of elegance. The other was...

"You!" Sayaka shouted.

The blonde girl blinked, and horror filled her eyes as she recognized Sayaka. "Oh. You," she managed to squeak out as her face drained of color.

"Minako-san? Do you know this girl?" Haruka asked.

"I know her!" Sayaka cried. "I woke up with a killer headache this morning because of her! We were in the bathroom at the concert hall together when the alarms started going off, and next thing I know she's knocked me on the side of my head and I'm lying on the floor!"

"Hey, I had my reasons!" the blonde girl protested. Her companion just let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead with two fingers. Clearly she was used to Minako doing things like this.

"Honestly, Minako, we can't let you go anywhere alone!" she groaned. "You're no better than Usagi-" She froze, her mouth snapping shut. Walking over to Sayaka, she bowed stiffly and said, "I'm sorry about my friend's behavior. We'll leave you three be now."

Parting, Sayaka boarded the elevator with Haruka and Michiru in awkward silence. At least Sayaka would no longer have to ask who the girl in the bed was. She remembered Minako grumbling something about an Usagi the night before. _I thought it was a little weird she was talking about a rabbit picking out shoes.*_

Michiru broke the silence, turning to Sayaka and smiling, "Oh, silly me. I never asked you your name."

Sayaka was unsure, but then thought, _What harm could a name do? It's not like there would be anything on me if they looked it up. _"Sayaka Miki."

Michiru turned to Sayaka as they walked out of the elevator, no longer smiling. "Goodbye then, Miki-san. If we see each other again, I hope the circumstances will be better."

Sayaka waited in the lobby for a few extra minutes after they left, just in case. She figured it was probably silly, but Mami had made it clear she didn't want to be associated with either of them. Finally, Sayaka decided it was safe and joined her new mentor by the garden in front of the hospital.

"Are you alright?" Mami asked as they began to walk.

"I don't think they would have suspected anything of me," Sayaka said. "They were visiting a girl, you know. She was in a coma. I think she might have been one of them, too."

Mami sighed, her eyes sympathetic. "I know it's difficult. Here's your first lesson: it's much easier to see another magical girl as an enemy than to see them as a person. I'm just as guilty of that as anyone. But if we do run into them again, and I suspect we will, you can't let what happened today get in the way of fighting them."

Kyubey appeared then, catching Sayaka off guard. She was still getting used to the way the white cat could pop up so randomly. _"If you two are hunting for witches, I've found a Grief Seed on the verge of hatching not very far from here."_

"That's good," Mami said. Turning to Sayaka, she explained, "Remember when I told you last night that witches are born from Grief Seeds? Well, based on the strength of the curse that created it, a Grief Seed needs a certain amount of time to actually hatch into a witch. Sometimes we stumble across these newborn witches, and we can destroy their Grief Seed with our magic before their labyrinth forms. Unfortunately though, that does mean we can't use it to purify our own Soul Gems. But in this case, the Grief Seed Sakura-san gave us last night will probably stay good for a few more purifications."

"So we have no excuse to not get rid of this one," Sayaka affirmed.

"That's right! You're catching on quickly." Mami turned to address the Kyubey again. "Where is it?"

_"At the hospital. In fact, it's close to the area Sayaka was just visiting." _At this, Sayaka remembered the room she hadn't looked into.

"In the long-term ward, I heard a little girl crying in a room. I figured it would be insensitive to intrude, but maybe she created a curse that gave birth to a witch!"

Mami and Sayaka began to run back to the hospital. _"Don't blame yourself, Miki-san. You couldn't have known," _Mami said.

_"But what if Kyosuke, or that girl in the bed and her friends are hurt because of that?" _Sayaka kept that concern to herself.

_"Don't forget, they're magical girls too," _Mami muttered grimly. _"They're magical girls too."_

* * *

Sitting by Usagi's bed, Rei found it was much easier to direct her frustrations at Minako than to look at Usagi's sleeping form. Knowing it would do no good to bring it up, Rei still couldn't help but groan, "Minako, there were so many better things you could have done! There was no need to act like a lead character in one of your dumb karate movies!"

"Kickboy and Punchgirl Save The World VI is not stupid! And what was I supposed to say?" Minako shot back. "'Oh, sorry, I need to go transform into the Soldier of Love and Beauty, Sailor Venus, now! Please don't tell anyone!' She would have thought I was crazy!"

"I don't think you need to worry about anyone thinking that," Rei replied. After a moment, the remark set in and Minako made gave an offended squeal, smacking Rei playfully on the arm.

"One of these days, that mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble, Rei-chan!" Rei laughed, uncomfortably settling back into her chair. The tension between the two girls may have been diffused, but the overall atmosphere of the hospital room was too cold and sterile for her tastes.

"You know, I really hate hospitals," Rei said quietly.

"You ever met someone glad to be hooked up to fifteen different machines while a doctor hovers over them listing off everything that could be wrong with them?" Minako laughed.

"Not as a patient. Just having to sit here, knowing there's nothing you can do. When I was five, I-" She broke off, not wanting the memories to come back.

Minako's smile faded. "Yeah, your mother. I know you don't like talking about it."

They sat in somber silence for a minute. Then, Rei let out a gasp. A sharp pain she knew well - both from fortune tellings gone wrong and from being Sailor Mars - erupted in her head. A warning of danger. "Something's nearby!" she gasped. "An enemy!" _Could it be? _she thought, the girl in the red coat from the night before flashing through her mind.

Minako peered out the door, checking to make sure the hallway was empty. "All clear!" she whispered.

"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Together, they sprinted down the hallway towards the source of the massive energy surge. Rei slammed open the door of the room where the energy was strongest. The room was silent except for -

"Oh, please, no," Rei whispered as the sight sunk in. Lying in the bed was a bald woman with a sunken face. Her eyes were closed, and a blissful smile was on her face. She looked so serene, one could almost ignore the monitors hooked up to her that had gone silent, signaling her death. And next to her, face drenched in tears, was a little girl with long, wavy white hair who couldn't be much older than ten.

"I... I could have saved her..." she was muttering over and over between sobs. At this point, Rei noticed that for some odd reason, an empty plate and two forks were lying on the ground next to the little girl. Then the girl began to scream. "I COULD HAVE SAVED HER, AND YOU GAVE ME A STUPID CAKE?" Rei and Minako darted forward, only to be thrown back by a black-and-orange shockwave. The girl was screaming even louder, though now seemingly from pain instead of grief. "I HATE YOU! BRING HER BACK!"

The room was filled with crackling black energy for a moment. Then... nothing. Rei could see her own fear reflected in Minako's eyes.

From down the hall, the sound of doctors running to the scene could be heard. Detransforming, the two girls hurriedly left the room before anyone could begin to ask them questions. Once they were outside, Minako asked the question Rei was thinking. "What just happened?"

Rei was unable to respond, still hearing the girl's screams inside her head, feeling like a child who has just seen something they weren't supposed to see.

* * *

Usagi was wandering in an endless fog, dimly sensing others around her. First there was Mamoru, holding her hand. Then faint murmurs that sounded like Haruka and Michiru. Shouting that could only be coming from Rei and Minako. She wanted to reach out to them, tell them she was alright, but when she looked down, her hands were tied, and no matter what she said, they couldn't seem to hear her.

All there was to do was keep walking. Her brooch was gone, so transforming wasn't an option. It was awfully lonely. If this was a dream, it wasn't a very good one. And she didn't even remember falling asleep in the first place. Just that burning sensation in Michiru's hotel room, and then this. And the white cat. It had been following her for a while now, vanishing from her sight whenever she tried to get a good look at it. Now, for the first time, it finally faced her.

_"Usagi Tsukino."_

Her name echoed through the air like the ring of a church bell. _"Your name carries power. You interest me."_

"Why have you been following me?" Usagi asked. (After all, this was a dream. Besides, she knew other talking cats, who was she to question one more?)

_"Do you know where you are?"_

"Well - " Usagi started. "Uh - no. Did you put me here?"

_"No. But I can get you out. As we speak, your physical body lies in a coma at the Mitakihara Hospital. The doctors will not be able to create an explanation, nor diagnose you with any condition. You are in perfect health, except for the aforementioned coma. But no matter what the doctors try, they will not be able to revive you."_

"Can we skip to the part about you getting me out?"

_"I was just getting to that. You see, you can make a contract with me. In exchange for one wish, I can make you a magical girl. In your case, your wish would be obvious enough. Except, it seems you already are a magical girl. What would happen if you made the contract, I wonder?"_

"So I would be an experiment?" Usagi was having trouble warming up to this "solution".

_"I suppose that's one word you could use."_

Usagi thought it over for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not comfortable with that idea right now."

The white cat nodded. _"I thought so. Well, if you change your mind, I'll always be here. And I suspect you will. In fact, I think I'll be seeing you again very soon, Usagi Tsukino. After all, you certainly aren't going anywhere."_

After the creature left, Usagi sat down, goosebumps up and down her body. But if what it had said was true, was this even her body, or was it her soul? She didn't know, and she wasn't in the mood for those kind of questions. She couldn't help it - she began to cry. And all the while two words wormed their way through her mind. _One wish._

* * *

_*For those unfamiliar with Japanese, the word "usagi" translates to "rabbit". It's a rather uncommon name for girls, hence why Sayaka didn't realize at first that Minako was talking about a person. Had Sayaka heard Usagi's full name (which reads as "rabbit of the moon" - each Senshi's civilian name is a pun referencing her powers), Sayaka probably would have been a little less confused._


	8. Chapter 8

**I love how you all in the reviews are more concerned about Nagisa, who is most indeed dead and will not be coming back, than about Mami, who for all you know could be walking straight to her death again.**

_**Chapter 7: Rebirth**_

Mami had briefly considered trying to contact Kyoko and Homura, but decided against it. _By the time they got here, the Grief Seed would have likely already hatched. _Sure enough, once they were back at the hospital, the witch's egg was nowhere to be found. _"Where was it, Kyubey?" _

_"Underneath that windowsill on the fourth floor. Unless another magical girl got to it first, it looks like we're too late." _

"Well, we can't just let a witch open up a labyrinth inside a hospital!" Sayaka protested. "What about all of those helpless people who could be absorbed inside?"

"It's alright, Miki-san," Mami assured her blue-haired trainee. "The labyrinth forms before the witch hatches, and without a witch to control it, a labyrinth can't move around. For all we know, the witch hasn't hatched yet, and its Grief Seed has just moved inside of the labyrinth. Fortunately, there's an easy way to check." Tapping her ring, her Soul Gem expanded to full size. Swiping it in the direction of the window, it gave off an amber glow as it reacted to the labyrinth. "Here we are!"

An orange-and-black hole about the size of an average teenage girl opened in front of them. "It's almost like it's inviting us in," Sayaka noted. Then she stopped. "Hold on a second. How come we weren't pulled in like we were last night?"

_"Good question," _Kyubey said_, _picking up where Mami left off_. "It's good that you want to know more about your enemy. Sometimes magical girls will stumble into a witch's labyrinth without warning. It doesn't usually happen since I can sense the Grief Seed, but last night's excitement created an exception."_

"What do you think, Kyubey?" Mami asked. "Should we try to finish it off now, or wait for reinforcements?"

_"It's likely the witch is still in the Grief Seed stage, so you and Sayaka would definitely be able to dispose of it now as long as you don't use any sudden bursts of magic that could trigger the transformation early. In other words, either transform now or wait until you're sure you have a clear shot inside the labyrinth."_

"Nobody else is around. I don't see any harm in transforming now," Mami shrugged. "Let's go, Miki-san!"

In a flash of blue and gold light, their magical girl ensembles appeared. Stepping through the portal, Mami felt the same shudder that never went away, no matter how many witches she fought. They were inside another world, one that humans didn't belong in. The labyrinth had an almost depressing feeling of loneliness, full of syringes and other medical equipment. She didn't express it out loud for the sake of providing a mentor figure for Sayaka, but she hated the more urban-looking labyrinths like this one. They gave the witches a much more human feel.

"Familiar at three-o-clock!" Sayaka whispered. Mami whipped her head around, to see a nurse-like figure walking away from their direction.

"Relax, Miki-san. These familiars don't seem to pose a threat. It would still be best to not provoke them, though."

Walking forward, they entered a dimmer room containing a narrow bridge over a gaping chasm. _"The witch is farther in, but this room feels unstable. We should keep moving before we lose the trail," _Kyubey advised.

No sooner had Mami and Sayaka stepped onto the bridge, however, did a jet of flame rip past them before disintegrating on the far side of the room.

* * *

_A few minutes prior_

"So what now?" Minako said. "Do we just head back to the hotel room and pretend we didn't just watch a ten-year-old girl give off serious youma vibes and then explode?"

"Of course not, I just don't know what else we can do!" Rei snapped. "No credible police officer would believe a story like what we saw."

Her breathing starting to slow, Rei tried to clear the thoughts running circles in her head. _Think! How can we check to verify what we saw without raising anyone's suspicions? _She forced herself to remember the moments immediately after the white-haired girl had vanished. "Oh! The window in the room broke from the force of the blast! We can check from outside to see if she might have..." The idea trailed off. It was a forty-foot drop, the flower beds surrounding the hospital wouldn't do much to soften the landing of a ten-year-old girl.

"It's worth a shot," Minako murmured. "The room was on the west side of the building, right?"

Walking slowly, Rei took a deep breath as they reached the street corner. "It's awfully quiet_. _There would be more of a fuss if someone had jumped_, _right_?"_

"Shh!" Minako whispered. "Do you hear that?"

Rei crouched down, picking up another girl's voice. "Should we...finish it off...wait for reinforcements?" A pause. "Nobody else...transform now. Let's go!"

Minako was now mouthing several very unladylike words. "That's not one of ours!" she hissed, blue eyes a mix between panic and anger. "Sounds like there are only two of them, and there are two of us. This could be our best shot."

Normally Rei would have objected, but she still wanted revenge for their humiliation the night before. _And for Usagi. _She nodded, determination welling up inside of her. Peering around the corner, the raven-haired girl gestured to Minako that it was safe to transform.

"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Walking back-to-back in case of another ambush, they came to a gaping orange-and-black hole that seemed to be hovering in midair... right beneath the broken window. "This is it!" Minako said. "Those two could have had something to do with it!"

"We don't know that for sure," Rei warned. "Maybe they're trying to stop it, just like we are."

"Either way, after last night, they don't seem like the types to just try talking things out."

"No use in just standing here and debating their morals," Rei countered. "Let's go."

Almost immediately after entering the portal, the two magical girls were regretting it. The bizarre room was like something out of Rei's childhood nightmares. "I _really_ don't like this."

"Too late to turn back now," Minako said. Rei whipped around, only to see that the entrance was now gone. "Looks like we caught the last bus in. Either that, or this place is designed to trap its victims."

It was easy to see why Minako viewed this place as a living thing. Everything about its atmosphere made it abundantly clear that one wrong step would send the girls to their deaths, and it would be without mercy. _Impaled on a syringe? Crushed under an IV stand? Or maybe strapped down under a big bright light and cut open? Anything is possible in the witch's hospital!_

Rei stiffened at the malevolent, childlike voices whispering in her ear. "We should keep moving." A witch's hospital. Yes, it was fitting.

At one point, a creature that could have passed for a child's drawing of a nurse stumbled across their path, but it paid them no mind. "It's almost like it's looking for something," Minako noted. "But what else would it be after other than intruders?" Neither girl decided to question it though, figuring it had been a lucky break.

As they approached the entrance to the next room, Rei heard the same voice from outside. "They're just through here!" she whispered. "If we want to catch them by surprise, now's the time!"

"Alright, but be sure to give them a fair warning first. I don't want to sink to their tactics of ambushes in the dark. We're not fighting in one of those old wars from history class."

"Okay." Pointing her finger towards the doorway, Rei allowed all of her anger concerning the events of the last 24 hours to transfer to her fingertip. "Fire Soul!" The resulting flame was easily one of the hottest she had ever produced, and it certainly alerted the other two girls to the presence of the onyx and blonde-haired girls.

"What on Earth do you think you're doing?" the curlier-haired one shouted angrily. "Are you _trying _to wake up the witch?"

"That blue-haired girl with her!" Minako muttered into Rei's ear. "She matches Mako-chan's description of the girl who attacked her!"

Sensing the best idea was to stall, Rei called out, "What are you talking about? We're here for you two, not some kind of witch."

"You've gotta be bluffing!" the blue girl snapped. "I just became a magical girl last night, and even I know what witches are!" She began to walk towards Rei and Minako.

The girl in the corset held her arm out to stop her. "No, Miki-san, this matches what that violinist said when I met her." Facing her adversaries, she narrowed her eyes said in a curious tone, "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm Sailor Venus, and that's Sailor Mars," Minako responded.

"No, not whatever stage names you've made up for yourselves." Mami shook her head. "Your actual names. Maybe Kyubey has contracted at least one of you."

_"There's no need for that, Mami," _an unearthly voice echoed in Rei's mind. _"I know exactly who you are, Rei Hino, Minako Aino. And neither of you are present on any contract record."_

"Hold on a second!" Minako protested. "We didn't sign any kind of 'contract' when we became magical girls! We were born into our roles as Senshi, and awoken at the proper time!"

"So it's true then." Mami's voice had dropped so low Rei barely heard her. Then, louder, "You're a completely different type of magical girl."

"Does that make us your enemies, then?" Rei asked.

Mami shook her head. "I don't know."

A new tension suddenly crackled the air, and Rei felt the same energy she had felt back at the hospital. "Something's coming!"

_"The witch is hatching!" _the voice in their heads declared. The girl called Miki swore, and Mami summoned a quintet of rifles in a golden burst.

"You two, stand back!" she directed towards Rei and Minako. "You don't know what you're up against!" The two planet guardians tried to protest, but they began speeding down a hallway of doors too quickly for coherent words to form.

They were pulled into a room that looked like a **c**ross between the Mad Tea Party and a candy factory. Stacks of sweets were piled **ha**phaza**r**d**l**y in rand**o**m par**t**s of the room. The walls seemed **t**o b**e** made of cake. And in the center of it all, a European-style teaset rested on a larger-than-life gingerbread table. What looked like a child's doll rested in the chair at its head. "That's the witch?" Miki scoffed. "It's not even a foot tall!"

"Yes, it does seem awfully docile..." Mami murmured. "Let's proceed with caution anyway. I remember one of my very first witches only attacked when you came within a certain distance of it. I'm glad I had my rifles, any magical girl that fought close-range wouldn't have stood a chance."

Rei was still lost, but she suggested, "I can summon a bow and arrow, and Venus has a whip. Would those be of any use? We may as well fight whatever this witch thing is together, otherwise none of us will get out of here."

Mami looked uncertain, but after sharing a glance with Miki, she gave a terse nod. "Okay. But _only _if I call for help." Throughout this whole exchange, the doll still hadn't moved. In fact, it wasn't giving any signs of sentience.

"I'll take it!" Miki declared, summoning a sword in a blue flash and jumping up. With a single slice, she toppled the doll from its candy throne, and it landed unceremoniously on the ground with a flop. The blue magical girl landed next to it, and growing a little braver, tossed it up into the air and summoned three more swords to impale it. Still no resistance. She began hacking away, not even needing the assistance of Mami.

"Careful, Miki-san!" Mami tried to warn, but Rei could tell it was even starting to seem silly to her. This "enemy" of theirs, if it could even be called that, was... well, pathetic.

"A couple more ought to finish it off!" Miki grinned. She raised her now-glowing sword over her head to deal the finishing blow, and it was barely even visible as she swung it down, just a quick arc of sapphire. "Gotcha!" she declared as the doll seemed to fold in on itself. However, the corpse began to bubble, just as horror began to dawn in Mami's golden eyes.

"Miki-san! Get back!" she cried. Miki was still looking down in shock at the remains of the witch, which had just swallowed her sword whole.

"M - Mami-san! What's happening?" she stammered. Then, in a quick swoop, an enormous black worm erupted from what by that point was less than a tattered scrap of fabric. Its body was covered in orange and blue spots, and its mouth was lined with razor-sharp fangs. It leered down at the four girls, mouth twisted in a horrid grin. Miki was rooted to the spot, eyes wide in terror as she stared into its gaping maw.

"SAYAKA!" Mami screamed, ripping the moment apart. Darting forward, Rei saw a brief golden blur shove the blue-haired magical girl out of the way, and Mami now stood in her place, arms still spread out as though to shield her companions as the monster's fangs closed around her neck.

* * *

The portal had appeared shortly after the cat left. Usagi hadn't noticed it at first, until she heard the wonderful sound of Rei and Minako's voices. Whipping around, she had found an oval, about five and a half feet tall, and inside of it an image of her friends (now as Sailors Mars and Venus) running down a deserted street. _It's almost like watching one of those movies that's been made about us. _Of course, it was obvious enough that this was real.

The "camera" followed them on its own, so all Usagi had to do was watch. She unconsciously held her breath as they entered the strange hospital-like realm, and listened intently as they confronted the two enemy magical girls. except, Usagi was having a much harder time viewing these two new ones as enemies. They weren't acting nearly as hostile as the red one from the night before had.

It wasn't until the unlikely group was pulled into the cake room did a strange sense of dread begin to well up inside the bun-headed girl. "Um, Mr. Cat?" she shakily called out.

It appeared within an instant. _"I'm here, Usagi Tsukino. And for further reference, my name is Kyubey." _

"Alright then," Usagi said. "What's that weird thing they're fighting?"

_"That would be a witch. This one has a certain element to it most do not, though."_

That did absolutely nothing to make Usagi feel better. "What kind of _element?_"

_"A witch born of the despair of two is bound to be unique. They can still be fought off by magical girls of sufficient skill, but they often appear to be of the normal variety, causing many of them to be underestimated."_

Usagi's eyes were locked onto the portal now. "Do any of them know that?"

_"No. Although knowing Mami, I'm sure she's beginning to suspect something is wrong. I can sense this witch has a particular tendency of attacking, though. Were one of them to trigger it, it would be safe to say there wouldn't be much left of any of them."_

Usagi's eyes widened as she realized the position she was being placed in (for she had no doubt that this Kyubey was giving her all of this information on purpose). "Kyubey. What if I agreed to your contract? Could I save them?"

_"Easily! That witch wouldn't even qualify as an insect next to your potential!"_

Usagi looked into the portal one more time, and had to stifle a scream. The tiny pink doll was gone, replaced by a massive black worm with a demonic grin. It loomed over a teenage girl with curly blonde hair, while Rei and Minako stood frozen in horror behind her. Usagi had no doubt they would be next.

"Alright, you win!" Usagi cried. "My wish is to keep fighting on as a magical girl, no matter what form I may have to take to do so!"

_"Interesting wording. And it seems the creation of a Soul Gem won't even be required due to your circumstances." _In a bright flash, the Legendary Silver Crystal appeared in Usagi's hands. A white light enveloped her, and an incredible amount of power filled her, power she was usually only able to channel when she used the Crystal in its purest form. _"Now, go."_

Turning around, Usagi leaped through the portal without a second thought, just as the blonde girl was about to be swallowed whole. Thrusting out her hand, she summoned a slender white staff as tall as she was, topped with a winged white sphere. The room fell dark for a split second, then a wave of pure light the color of freshly fallen snow burst from the tip of the weapon. To say the witch didn't see it coming would have been an understatement. It was so focused on its prey it never even looked up. Usagi kept the attack going for as long as she felt it was safe, then let the beam die as the labyrinth faded around them.

The blonde girl was kneeling on the pavement, staring straight ahead. The blue-haired girl, who had already transformed back into civilian clothes, cautiously crept over to her. "Mami-san? The witch is dead."

Mami looked up at her, eyes still blank. "Oh. Yes." Plucking a flower-shaped hairpin from her head, she shrunk it into a ring. Her magical girl outfit was replaced by a pale green tank top, brown shorts, and brown leggings. Then she doubled over in heaving sobs. "I could feel its teeth! They were around my throat!" she gasped through her hysterical tears. Sure enough, Usagi could see several angry red marks driven into various parts of the crying girl's neck and throat. If she had been only one or two seconds late, the girl would have been decapitated. Her partner rushed to her side and began trying to calm her down.

Now Rei and Minako looked up. "Usagi?" Rei shakily asked. The bun-headed girl nodded.

"What are you doing here? Awake, I mean?" Minako said. "And... what are you _wearing?"_

Now Usagi was starting to feel confused. "What do you mean? Aren't I wearing my Eternal Sailor Moon fuku?" A warm breeze blew through the alley, and her silver hair fluttered out in front of her. _Wait. Silver?_

Rushing to the window of the nearest abandoned hospital room, Usagi stared in half-fascination, half-horror at what she had transformed into. Because she knew this outfit. She had only seen it once, inside the Galaxy Cauldron months ago, but the memory would never leave her.

The main part of the fuku was similar enough to her very first one, except the shoulder pads were gold and the skirt white. The same hairpins that had always decorated her hair were still there, although her odango covers were now white as well. From the snow-colored collar of the leotard extended a flowing white cape that fell all the way to her feet, cut to look like wings. Pearls decorated her ears and fingers (her gloves were gone), and an ivory choker adorned with a gold six-pointed star encircled her throat. The knee-high boots that had always accompanied her various outfits had vanished, replaced by white heels that had decorative wings fluttering at each ankle. Finally, at her waist was a smaller version of the winged globe that topped her staff, flowing from it a rainbow panel of fabric decorating the front of her skirt with the colors of her Senshi. The only difference between the memory and now was her brooch - instead of a Star Seed that shimmered between silver and gold based on which way you looked at it, the Legendary Silver Crystal now rested on her breast, a crystalline flower. Combined with the silver hair, there was no mistaking who she had become. "Sailor... Cosmos?"

* * *

Minako wasn't quite sure what had happened to Usagi during the half hour or so they had been gone (or why she now looked like a hybrid between Sailor Moon and Neo-Queen Serenity), but as she was about to start asking more questions, something else caught her eye. "Rei-chan? Did you detransform inside the labyrinth?"

Rei was once again wearing the red and white t-shirt and blue skinny jeans she had been wearing in the hospital. "No... did you?"

Minako looked down. Her Sailor Venus outfit was gone, replaced by her sunset orange t-shirt and denim shorts patterned with flowers. "No. In fact, nothing should have triggered the detransformation either, unless -" A sharp pain in her chest cut her off. She heard Rei let out a cry of pain beside her. Orange and red lights began to shine from where their brooches would have been were they in Senshi attire.

* * *

Inside Setsuna and Hotaru's hotel room, Ami and Setsuna were comparing their observations regarding the Legendary Silver Crystal's strange behavior. Both were transformed as protection against the power it was radiating, even from inside its miniature force field. Ami's goggles had finally picked up the now multiple cracks spiderwebbing across its surface earlier that morning, and they were discussing possible causes when it suddenly disappeared in a flash. Then, their transformations failed. As Ami was about to ask what had happened, the same pain and glow overtook them.

* * *

Makoto was in the large bathroom that connected the suite she and Ami shared with Rei and Minako's room, listening to a baking show on TV as Hotaru helped her change the bandages on her leg (not a task one would normally delegate to a twelve-year-old, but then again, Hotaru was not like most twelve-year-olds). "Are you sure that being reborn caused you to lose those weird healing powers you used to have?" Makoto was asking her. "Because I have enough of a delinquent reputation at school as it is. The last thing I need is a huge scar on one of my legs poking out from under my unifo-" It hit her before it hit Hotaru. In her case, the feeling roughly equivalent to someone trying to rip out her heart was enough to knock her out. Hotaru tried to ask what was wrong, only to be cut off by the sight of what had burst from Makoto's chest, followed by a similar light from her own.

* * *

Haruka and Michiru were entering the hotel's penthouse suite, just back from the hospital. Breaking away from Michiru's halfhearted embrace before it could become a kiss, Haruka muttered something about finding the room service menu. Michiru slipped off her pale pink ballet flats and settled down on the couch, knowing it would be best to let her partner be alone for a few minutes. After a minute or so, the heavy silence was broken by a pained grunt from Haruka, and a blue light shining from the bedroom. The violinist rushed in, looking around to see what was wrong, when she was brought down by the same light that had overtaken the others. Her hand searched for Haruka's - and found it - before unconsciousness claimed them both.

* * *

Back in the alleyway, Usagi knelt by Rei's side, watching in fright as a scarlet glass ball the size of her palm rose out of her friend's chest. Inside, spinning in a circle, was unmistakably the Mars Crystal. The same had happened to Minako, who was holding up her dark orange orb to the setting sun, inspecting it like a judge inspecting a murderer. Naturally, Kyubey chose this exact moment to appear.

The other two magical girls had been watching the events unfold before them with confusion until now, but the older girl was the first to ask the question that was on the tip of Usagi's tongue as well. "Kyubey... what's happening here?"

The white creature lowered its head, flicking its tail. _"It looks like I was right about your contract being interesting, Usagi Tsukino. This has most certainly never happened before. It seems I have a bit of explaining to do."_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Apologies for how long it took to get this out, there was a combination of a family wedding and me knowing what I wanted to write but not how I wanted to word it.**_

_**Chapter 9: Broken Things**_

"Hold on a second," Kyoko fumed, rounding on her until-now stoic companion. "Did you _also_ know that we're basically all zombies?"

"The knowledge wouldn't change what's already been done." Homura shrugged. "Besides, I've already come to terms with it. It doesn't affect my goals. I recommend the sooner you do the same, the easier it will be to defeat Walpurgisnacht."

'You all' was referring to Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko, the nine new girls that had one night ago been their enemies, and an older man who had joined them somewhere along the way, all now gathered in Homura's surprisingly spacious apartment. Just an hour prior, Homura and Kyoko had been planning strategies for when the Dreadnaught Witch would arrive in Mitakihara (Homura estimated within two to three weeks). Then, upon checking the day's date to create a better guess, a brief flash of what could have almost been called distress showed in Homura's purple eyes. Standing up, she simply declared, "We need to go to the hospital. _Now. _There's no time to explain."

"Hold on a second!" Kyoko protested. "I'm starting to rethink this partnership. If all you're ever going to do is keep me locked out of the loop, this city ain't worth it. At least Kazamino doesn't have twenty different magical girls runnin' around unchecked!"

Homura had not responded. Turning, she prepared to leave the apartment as they both received a message from Sayaka. _"Akemi-san? Sakura-san? You two might want to get down here to the hospital. Something strange is happening, Mami-san was just almost killed, and what Kyubey is saying isn't making any sense!"_

Kyoko had seen it in that moment - true panic in Homura's normally emotionless purple eyes. Kyubey's "explanation" of the contract's true nature that had followed made the red magical girl grudgingly admit that panic had been justified. Until she realized - what would her new "partner" have had to worry about if this was her first time hearing this as well? This accusation had only led to their unsatisfying confrontation seconds earlier, however.

Fortunately, Sayaka seemed just as unforgiving. "Why wouldn't you tell us something like that? You may not consider it important information, but a lot more people would like to know about little details like selling their souls!"

Homura spread her hands. "If you insist on turning it into an issue, I would suggest taking it up with Kyubey. It will gladly explain the magical girl system to you better than I could."

Although she was still frustrated, Kyoko let the conversation be shut down for now. "Fine. Just as long as there aren't any _other_ secrets you're keeping from us." She gauged Homura for a reaction, but the black magical girl was back to being an unreadable slate again.

Sayaka turned to Mami, who was curled up on the couch, still unresponsive. Nobody had bothered to tend to her wounds. For once, Kyoko didn't try to suppress the twinge of pity welling up inside her. If she was taking this rough, she couldn't imagine what it must be like for a magical girl like Mami, who put everything she had into fulfilling her end of the contract. As for the newbie, Kyoko couldn't tell how she was handling things. In all honesty, during the few hours she had heard Sayaka's opinions and questions the night before, Kyoko felt like she was looking at herself, during the days where she had been Mami's apprentice. _If there was some kind of prize for most eventful first 24 hours as a magical girl, she would probably be able to try for it._

Now one of the other magical girls cleared her throat. Everyone turned to where a darker-skinned woman who looked college-age was standing by the door. Kyoko was fairly sure she had heard the black-haired girl wearing red call her Setsuna. "What I'm not understanding is why we were all affected when Usagi is the only one who made this 'contract'_. _Or why she seems to have made the complete transition to your type of magical girl when all we have are these." She held out the smooth black orb occupying her palm.

When nobody said anything, she continued. "If nobody minds a bit of guesswork, I suspect that when Usagi made her wish, something happened that affected us as well, although I still can't come up with an explanation for why that would happen. Whatever this phenomenon was, though, it extracted our Sailor Crystals from our bodies, and a side effect was the creation of these orbs. Most likely, they're meant to be some kind of protection. However, I strongly suspect that as long as our Sailor Crystals aren't on us at all times, we won't be able to transform."

"With all due respect, Setsuna-san, it's not exactly something I would leave lying around the hotel room," a girl with brown hair in a ponytail called from the other couch.

Setsuna looked at her with stern eyes, but she had a small smile on her face. "I should hope not."

Sayaka stood up from the couch. "Well, I need to be getting home. This day has had way more weirdness than I planned, and maybe a good night's sleep will help clear my head." Despite the blue-haired girl's uncaring projection, Kyoko could tell she was more scared than she was letting on.

"We should be leaving as well," a blonde woman with cropped hair announced. "Michiru, Setsuna, Hotaru?"

As the girl named Hotaru passed by, Kyoko shivered as they briefly locked eyes. _She looks like she's been one of us for years already._

This left bunhead and company, Homura, Kyoko, and Mami, although the curly-haired girl was still barely aware of her surroundings. Kyoko was starting to wonder if she should have left with Sayaka. Between Fire Girl from last night looking like she was trying to shoot lasers from her eyes at Kyoko, Homura's creepily-passive attitude, and her catatonic former mentor, Kyoko discerned she wasn't exactly in the friendliest of company.

The unlikely gathering sat in silence for a minute or so, until Usagi bolted up with an alarmed gasp. "Has anyone called my parents to tell them I'm alright?"

Everyone let out a sigh, some frustrated, some relieved. "Well, at least one of us is back to normal," came a murmur from Fire Girl to the blue-haired girl she was standing next to, who gave a small, nervous laugh in return.

The black-haired man rested his hand on her shoulder, smiling. "Relax, Usa. I called Kenji-san to tell him the news the minute Rei told me you had woken up."

Kyoko watched the relief spread across Usagi's face, and felt a mixture of contempt and envy. _She wouldn't last a day if what happened to me happened to her. Must be nice._

Looking at Mami once more, the red-haired girl couldn't help but wonder, _Then again, maybe she would be smart and actually turn to her friends instead of pushing them away like I did._

Shooting one last glare at Kyoko, the raven-haired girl said in a voice that could probably freeze water on a hot summer day, "Come on, we've wasted enough time as it is. We should be out in the field testing our new abilities instead of sitting around wondering about them."

"Rei-chan, I know this has been a shock for all of us, but - " a girl with her hair tied back in a red ribbon started, but Rei turned her back on her and exited the apartment on her own before she could finish. The girl sighed. "But maybe it wouldn't kill you to listen to the girls who actually know about this new magical girl system," she grumbled.

"I'll try to talk to her alone," Usagi said softly. "Maybe she'll be a little more open tomorrow."

Minako turned to Homura and Kyoko. "Sorry about Rei-chan. I know she can come off as rather cold towards people she doesn't know, but deep down, it's just her way of dealing with things she can't understand. She almost always comes around." Homura gave no response other than a slight nod. Kyoko gave a slightly more involved grunt of understanding. A quiet laugh from the other couch drew all of their attentions.

"She sounds a lot like you Kyoko. You're both even red." Nobody had noticed Mami as she sat up. Her eyes still had a faraway look to them, and she spoke in a flat, trance-like voice. She giggled to herself again. "But you don't seem like you get along too well, do you?" She looked around, her golden eyes finally focusing. "Where - where are we?"

"My apartment," Homura responded. "It was the safest place to regroup after the events of this afternoon. I assume you will have to be filled in though."

"Oh, that won't be necessary." She began to talk in a sing-song pattern. "I heard every word. About them, and about us. What we really are." Her voice dropped to a whisper, as though she was a schoolgirl telling a secret to a friend. "But don't worry. I already have a plan. I'll save all of us."

Kyoko would replay the events that transpired within the next few seconds in her head a thousand times over later on. Mami began to shakily raise her hand, the one she wore her Soul Gem ring on, all the while still wearing that eerie smile. In that same moment, Homura let out a true gasp of panic. A flash of orange and a flash of purple went off seemingly at the exact same time. Kyoko blinked, momentarily blinded. When her eyes refocused, Mami had been thrown back against the couch, her transformation failing. Homura stood over her, in full magical girl attire. One hand rested on the silver shield that decorated her forearm. The other was clenched tightly, with a faint amber glow coming from inside. It wouldn't have taken a genius to figure out what the black-haired girl had done. _But how could she have moved so quickly? She was on the other side of the room!_

Still clutching Mami's Soul Gem, Homura tentatively allowed her own civilian clothes to take the place of her magical girl outfit. _She's the one in power here, so why does she have a look in her eyes like a cornered animal?_ Kyoko thought.

Deciding it was time to make her exit, Kyoko fished the last stick of pocky out of the box she was holding and stuck it in her mouth. "Well, this has been a fun meeting, but someone needs to patrol the city, and I don't see anyone else volunteerin'."

Usagi looked up towards her. "But... but what about her?" She pointed towards Mami, who wasn't moving.

Homura reached for Mami's wrist, searching for a pulse. "It's nothing to be concerned about, she's just unconscious. It was most likely a side effect of the forced removal of her Soul Gem. I promise, it was for our own good. In this state, Mami Tomoe is no longer in her right mind. There is no telling what she might do."

This was more than Kyoko could take. "And how the hell could you know that? You just transferred here a week ago!"

"No better than you could claim to know her. I was under the impression you hadn't spoken to her for - what did you tell me earlier, a year now?"

"Why you little-" The empty pocky box was crushed in her hand. She threw it on the ground, and advanced on Homura before the other girl could react. Her spear pinned the purple-eyed girl against the wall, millimeters from her pale throat. "You know what pisses me off more than anything else?" Kyoko growled. "Magical girls like you sticking their noses where they don't belong." Homura gave no response.

"JUST SHOW SOME SIGN OF EMOTION, DAMMIT!" Kyoko shouted. "Are you even human?"

Amethyst eyes as cold and hard as steel met Kyoko's. "Once. Before I made the contract."

"Please, just stop!" Usagi sobbed. There was a burst of white light, and the aura of the silver-haired angel was felt once more. Her staff sent Kyoko's spear flying to the other end of the room.

Kyoko looked between the white magical girl and the black. "Tch. Have it your way." She called off her transformation. "Sorry you had to see that. It wasn't your fight."

Usagi's silvery-blue eyes filled with confusion. "But I don't understand. Why do you have to fight at all? Wouldn't it make more sense to help each other and work as a team?"

"That's the thing, though," Kyoko said. "Not everyone _can_ work in a team. Not everyone _wants_ to. And sometimes they _do_, just not with _you_." She faced the other three girls and Mamoru. "You all seem to know each other pretty well. I guess you work together pretty well too, last night aside. Good for you. But see how long that lasts once reality kicks in. Once two of you have darkening Soul Gems, but there's only one Grief Seed left. When you're trying to fight your way through a labyrinth, only to wind up separated, so that one of you gets stuck facing the witch all by yourself. Or maybe one night, you'll be thinking back on your wish, hating the you of the past for how stupid they were when they made it, because they didn't know what they really wanted and just said the first thing that came to mind, and it wound up ruining them."

The blue-haired girl spoke up. "You say all of that like we're already destined to become our type of magical girl, even though we already concluded that, if anything, this is just a mutation of our original powers as Senshi."

The brunette girl with the bandaged leg added in, "And even then, I think we would wind up plenty different from you."

Red Bow stood up. "Come on. I think we've heard all we needed to hear." The others followed her out the door, Usagi last. She cast one last look over her shoulder at the remaining three girls. It almost looked like pity.

After the door closed, Homura faced Kyoko once more. "If you're done trying to kill me, there remains the matter of Mami Tomoe."

Kyoko glanced towards the couch, where the blonde girl was still unmoving. "Yeah, what about her?"

"In this mental state, he is a threat. Had I not stopped her earlier, she would have killed us all."

Kyoko grimaced. "You know what, I've changed my mind. I don't think I want to know how you can guess that." She eyed the amber Soul Gem still glowing from within Homura's hand. "So what's your plan?"

Homura regarded the unconscious girl. "As much of an unstable factor as she is now, I feel it would be too drastic to eliminate her altogether. I assume you would agree with this?"

Kyoko shivered. _She talks about Mami like she's just a piece on a game board. _"No, I'm not killing her now. I know it may seem shocking, but I don't pick fights with people who can't defend themselves."

The black-haired girl slowly nodded. "I assumed as much. Therefore, I propose she be monitored at all times, until she can be guaranteed as a non-threat. If she continues to show such sudden displays of aggression, though..." Her grip on Mami's Soul Gem tightened.

"Alright, alright, point taken," Kyoko snapped. "I'll be her babysitter. I'll never let her Soul Gem off my person. At the very least, I won't have to steal from grocery stores and sleep in empty hotel rooms if I can crash at her place. But what do I get out of it? I'm not exactly looking forward to being the one who has to pull her finger off the trigger, figuratively and literally speaking."

"If you can make her see sense, perhaps an ally for when Walpurgisnacht comes. Although two magical girls is certainly more preferable than one, as a whole we would likely sustain less damage with a third. Do not underestimate the power of the Dreadnaught Witch. Better magical girls than you have been defeated by it."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you talk like you've fought it a hundred times before, but doesn't change the fact that based on what you've told me about it, you'll probably be singing a different tune once it's actually coming at us three weeks from now."

Homura extended her hand to give Kyoko the yellow Soul Gem, but the redhead waved a finger. "Let's say the deal begins at midnight. I have one more thing I wanna do before I become your watchdog."

The black-haired girl looked her over. "Very well. I will see to it Mami Tomoe makes it back to her apartment. I will meet you there at midnight."

Kyoko nodded. After closing the apartment door, she took out her own Soul Gem. She pointed it in the direction Usagi and her friends had gone, and smirked as it began to pulse a blood red.

* * *

"Still got any homework you haven't finished?" Junko asked from the kitchen.

Madoka thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think so. I did the book report right after it was assigned so I could get it out of the way. I let Sayaka-chan borrow my math notes from the three days she was out sick last month. Hitomi-chan and I put the finishing touches on our report for science last week. And I don't think our new history teacher is as likely to give us a pop quiz on the first day back as our old one was."

Her mother smiled. "That's my girl. If only I had been as good a student as you are."

Madoka tilted her head. "I thought you were top of your class."

Junko let out a loud laugh. "Only in my last year of high school, after I got serious! Before that, I would always wait until the night before something was due, then scramble to finish it and not get to bed until three in the morning. Your grandmother didn't know what to do with me."

The pink-haired girl gave a smaller laugh. "Well, I'll try not to follow your example."

"You had better not!" Junko's eyes widened. "Oh God, now _I _sound like your grandmother!" She looked up at the clock on the wall. "Tell you what. If your father isn't back with Tatsuya in twenty minutes, we won't wait for them any longer and have the hot chocolate all for ourselves."

"All right!" Madoka walked upstairs to her room. She was about to change into some pajamas when her phone vibrated as Sayaka's name flickered onto the screen._ "I need to talk to you. Can you call me when you get this?"_

Concerned, Madoka dialed Sayaka's number. Sayaka picked up on the first ring. "Sayaka-chan, is everything okay?"

A sigh came from the other end. "Well... no, not really. Something weird happened when I was out witch-hunting with Mami-san today. Well, several things, to be more accurate."

Madoka listened, growing more and more horrified as Sayaka told the entire story, from the witch hunt gone wrong to the truth about Soul Gems. "And to top it all off, it seems like that transfer student knew about it, but just couldn't be bothered to tell us! She said it 'wasn't important'!"

Her friend sighed on the other end. "I just don't know what to do now. How do I keep acting like nothing is wrong? I never asked for any of this, I just wanted to help people!"

"I... I don't know what to say," Madoka tentatively began. "After all, I'm not really in the same position as you."

"Nah, it's alright," Sayaka said. "I just wanted to warn you. You know, just in case Kyubey decides to go after you too."

"Don't worry about that, I already decided I wouldn't," Madoka assured her. "How about we go check on Mami-san tomorrow morning? It was probably a shock for her, too."

"Yeah, I don't think she was taking things so well when I left. My mom would probably say she was in shock. And she had some painful-looking cuts on her neck, but nobody did anything about them. I noticed them, but I just... didn't know what to do."

'Well, I'm sure you were all scared," Madoka said. "I don't think you should be blamed for being more concerned about yourself in this case."

Sayaka sighed again. "Thanks, Madoka. Sorry for dumping all of this on you, I didn't mean to kill your night. See you tomorrow, I guess?"

"Yeah, sure. We can meet where we usually walk to school." Madoka hung up and looked down at her bedspread. _I know Sayaka doesn't like her, but could__ that transfer student have been trying to protect me when she told me not to contract last night?_

Changing into pink and white pajama top and darker pink shorts, Madoka walked back downstairs. The smell of hot chocolate hit her almost instantly, and she closed her eyes, breathing it in. _I'll talk to Mom. She might have some advice._

However, when she entered the kitchen, her mother was furiously tapping out a message on her own phone, the two mugs of hot chocolate cooling on the countertop beside her. "Mom, is everything okay?"

Junko looked up, startled. "Oh, Madoka, I didn't hear you come down. I'm just checking the traffic report. I know Tatsuya's friend lives on the other side of town, but it shouldn't take them thirty minutes to get from there to here unless there was some kind of backup on the main roads. I've already tried calling your father, but he didn't pick up. I know he doesn't like talking on the phone while he's driving, but it still got me worried..."

Madoka's stomach dropped, but not because of what her mother was probably thinking. Mami had made a passing comment the night before about how the area where Tatsuya and her father had gone was one of the best places in the city to go witch-hunting, because there were so many alleyways and one-way streets for them to hide in. Madoka ran back upstairs to her room and frantically searched for Sayaka's number on her phone.

"Hey, Madoka, what is it?" Sayaka answered.

"Sayaka-chan! I need your help! I don't think Mami-san could fight if she's as bad as you say, and I don't have the phone numbers of those other two girls!"

"Slow down now. You need me to do something as a magical girl?"

"Yes! I can pay you back for the bus fare. But I need you to go to the northwest district right away! I think my father and Tatsuya have been attacked by a witch somewhere by the art gallery!"

She could hear Sayaka rummaging around for something on the other end, most likely a city map. "Okay, the Hoshizora Art Exhibition, or the Tachibana Gallery of Photography?"

"The second one. It has a two-story apartment above it, and there's some gold lettering in English on the windows."

"Only for you, Madoka, but I'll do it. If it is your old man and your brother, I'll save them!"

"Thank you so much, Sayaka-chan! I don't know I'll be able to pay you back!" Sayaka laughed, then hung up. Madoka slumped against the wall, not feeling as relieved as she had expected. After all, could Sayaka really be expected to fight in top form after all she had learned today?

Madoka heard her mother downstairs, now talking to Ms. Tachibana. "They left twenty minutes ago? Oh, I see. No, everything's fine, I just wanted to know." She hung up, and fell silent. "Madoka?" she called up in a voice that was sounded far too earnest. "Come on down, the hot chocolate is getting cold!"

"Coming!" the pink-haired girl answered. She looked out her window, and couldn't help but think, _But if I'm right, do I really want to be?_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Wow, apologies for how incredibly large of a gap there was between updates. Hopefully I have a good excuse though, first there were finals, and then right when I was able to sit down and make some real progress on this chapter, my computer decided to crash, which was fun. I lost most of the chapter as a result, but eventually we got here (albeit extremely off-schedule)! Also, someone brought to my attention that the switching POVs can be a little hard to follow, so from now on, I'll be starting each new one with the name of the character it's being told from. Let me know if that helps!**_

_**Chapter 10: Disturbance **_

**Sayaka**

If there was one nice thing about having parents whose jobs could keep them working past midnight, it was that Sayaka had nobody interrogating her about why she was going out at 10 PM when she had school tomorrow. Two notes were attached to the fridge; the blue-haired girl didn't have to read them to know they both contained apologies for having to pull more all-nighters.

Exiting the building into the cool spring night, she gave a deep inhale. Looking down at her hand, her eyes landed on the silver ring encircling her finger. _Is my soul really this small?_ As she walked, she held her hand up, examining it in the moonlight.

She had never really given the idea of having a soul much thought before. Nobody in her family was particularly religious, and it wasn't like it was a topic they casually discussed over dinner (on the rare instances where they could have family dinners). So why did she feel so violated?

Quickening her pace, she changed directions towards the train station. At this time of night, trains were faster, and there was no bus driver looking at you with a mixture of pity and contempt when you got on board. Reaching the ticketing area, she swiped her train card at the machines for the blue line. Luckily for her, one was pulling up to the platform just as she stepped through the gate.

As the train slowed to a halt, Sayaka could have sworn she heard a faint crunching noise. Looking to her left, she narrowed her eyes. Nothing. Yet she still couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. Shrugging, she boarded the train and took a seat near the doors.

Just as she had hoped, the car was nearly empty. Her only companions were a man talking on his cell phone, and a young woman in nurse's scrubs likely coming home from work. Neither paid any attention to Sayaka when she boarded, which she hoped to keep that way.

She was painfully aware of the fact that it was already almost ten minutes since she had answered Madoka's phone call. If her friend's father and brother really had been caught up in a witch's labyrinth, the odds that they were still alive (or another magical girl had come to save them) grew slimmer every second. _I need to be more careful with this one. I almost got Mami-san killed today because of my recklessness._ She shivered, still remembering vividly every row of teeth inside the witch's gaping mouth.

The man on his phone was talking annoyingly loud. From what Sayaka could gather, he was telling his friend about some new girlfriend he had hooked up with. "Yeah, I met her at a bar the other night. Wasn't much for talking, if you know what I mean. She has a great ass, so I wasn't gonna complain-" Sayaka rolled her eyes and put in her earbuds. For her, the rest of the ride was spent listening to Beethoven's 7th.

By the time the train finally reached the neighborhood Madoka had specified, Sayaka was painfully aware of how much time had passed. Summoning her Soul Gem, she recalled a tactic for detecting witches Mami had mentioned. _"It is possible to scan a large area for witches if you need to save time, but it uses a lot more magic, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you absolutely must." Sorry, Mami-san, but this is one of those times, _Sayaka grimaced. _Okay, focus._

Narrowing her eyes, she held her Soul Gem out in front of her and focused directly on its faint glow. _I need to find a witch somewhere in this area. _An almost invisible pulse of light flew out from the gem, before narrowing into a wispy line pointing her straight ahead. Gulping, Sayaka swayed as the effort of using the magic hit her. _No, you have to stay strong. This is proof that at the very least, people are at risk._

She followed the trail cautiously, not wanting to do something that might upset the path. After walking another two blocks, it abruptly stopped outside a clothing store, shuttered up for the night. Swiping her Soul Gem through the air, Sayaka's suspicions were confirmed, and a floating silver circle surrounded by golden wisps of light appeared in front of her. _Here goes. _Transforming, she called up a sword to appear in her hand and jumped into the labyrinth.

She had been wise to arm herself outside, because the first familiar jumped on her almost immediately with an ear-splitting screech. She blindly slashed her sword in front of her, and something black exploded into her face. Immediately, her eyes began to water, and she collapsed on the ground, coughing. She rubbed at her eyes, and looked down at her gloves to reveal... fur?

Sayaka glanced back to where the familiar she had killed was laying. Although it shared the typical stylizing of all witch labyrinths, the basic shape was unmistakable - a black cat. The blue-haired magical girl looked around, now registering the constant, high-pitched background noise of the labyrinth, like fifty cats all yowling at once. _A cat witch. You have to be kidding me._ Sayaka herself didn't mind cats, but her allergies felt otherwise.

_Stop, you can't think like that. It's your job to take out this witch._ Standing up, she covered her nose and mouth with her left hand, slicing at familiars with her right. After several yards, the path split into a three-way fork: the one to the left was orange, the one in the center green, and the one to the right was purple. Knowing she didn't have much time, Sayaka thought, _Well, green is good, right? _Racing down the middle path, familiars seemed to swarm around her, helping her believe this was indeed the right path. She charged forward blindly for what seemed like forever, losing count of how many familiars she cut down. _There's just too many! _A black wall was closing in around her. Desperate, she called up a burst of magic from her Soul Gem, and dozens of swords exploded out from where she was standing. The sudden clearness, and wave of fatigue from the attack, caught her off guard - but up ahead, there was the door to the witch's room!

The blue magical girl sprinted towards it, free hand outstretched. She had almost reached it when she heard someone cry out. She froze, whipping her head to her right. A car? And behind the windshield, an extremely torn up Mr. Kaname was hitting familiars away from the window with what looked like a rolled-up newspaper. She glanced back towards the door to the witch's room, but shook her head. _Madoka's dad comes first. _

Resting her hand on her last sword, she paused for a moment, breathing in, before dashing forward and swinging the blade in a wide, glowing blue arc. The familiars around the car were either destroyed or scattered instantly. "Excuse me, Mr. Kana - sir! Do you need help getting out of here?"

Madoka's father definitely looked worse for wear. His face was covered in dozens of scratches, his glasses only had one functioning lens, and the hand that wasn't batting away familiars was resting on his lap at an odd angle. He gaped at her for a moment, then seemed to remember where he was. "Yes, please! Do you know where we are?"

"That doesn't matter right now, getting you out is what's important," Sayaka said. "I've bought us some time, so can you hold still for a couple more minutes while I do what I have to do? Roll up your window and try not to let them see you, okay?" _They're cats, can they smell him, or am I overthinking this? Ugh, I don't have time right now! _

Fortunately, Mr. Kaname seemed to be willing to follow her instructions without asking questions. "Please hurry!" he cried. "I'll be fine, but my son - he's young, he can't handle this for much longer!" _Crap, I forgot that Tatsuya is in there too!_

"Don't worry, sir, I won't be long!" she declared. Tuning around she spotted the door to the witch's room, summoned up more swords, and jumped through it without a moment's hesitation. Steadying both hands on the grip of the cutlass closest to her, she took a deep breath. _I just have to beat this one a little quicker than Mami would. I just have to - _And the witch was upon her.

* * *

**Rei**

"You know, Rei-chan, you were kind of ruder than you had to be back there," Minako remarked as they stood outside the hotel. "I'm just saying, seeing as those girls now a lot more about our... current situation than we do, it's probably not a good idea to drive a wedge between us."

"Well, I'm sorry!" Rei snapped. "Or are you forgetting how they humiliated us last night? Unlike you, I can't just forgive and forget so easily!"

Minako stepped back, hurt evident in her blue eyes. "Well," she breathed. "Since you seem to need some more time to work this out, I'll just let you cool off by yourself." Whirling around, she stormed into the lobby as Rei reached towards her.

"Minako, I'm sorry! I didn't mean-" She withdrew her hand. _Nice one, Rei. _Taking a deep breath, she turned to face the street. The sun had set quickly, and streetlights were already illuminated up and down the sidewalks. _She's right, I need some time to clear my head._

Turning right, the raven-haired girl began to walk back towards the train station they had come from. The night breeze cut right through her thin clothes, and she was glad she had thought to bring along a jacket. As the doors to the train station smoothly slid open, Rei was grateful for the artificial temperature within. _It may be spring break, but I guess the nights can still get chilly here._

Settling down on the nearest seat, she rested her hands on her knees and slowly let her tense muscles relax. Her own words and Minako's raced through her head, between flashes of the battle atop the concert hall with the scarlet-coated girl. Rei could still remember what the girl's presence had felt like... no. She wasn't just imagining it, the same phantom charge was running through the air! Digging her hand into her bag, Rei's fingers closed around her Sailor Crystal. _Setsuna-san said we should still be able to transform, but does the transformation phrase even work anymore? _However, the intent of transforming seemed to be good enough for the small red orb, and in a flash her Eternal Sailor Mars ensemble appeared on her body. "I know you're there!" Rei called out.

From the shadows by a vending machine came the sound of clapping. "Well, color me impressed," a familiar voice said. In a red flash, the same girl from the concert hall - Kyoko, wasn't it? - appeared from the shadows, now wearing a worn-out green hoodie and shorts, with a stick of pocky hanging from her mouth. "Most magical girls can't see through my illusion magic until I'm right on top of them. "Course, by that point that's usually because I have them pinned to the ground."

"What do you want?" Rei asked.

Kyoko smirked. "Well, I guess I'd like to know a little more about you. The way you fought last night was pathetic, I'm not gonna lie. But I get the feeling there's a lot more you can do." Glancing up at the notice board, she added, "The next train won't be here for another fifteen minutes, and who's gonna walk in on us this late at night?"

Rei couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You actually want a fight?"

"I thought I made that clear," the red-haired girl casually said. "Of course, if your powers still even work after all that crap Kyubey pulled on you. I admit, that would piss me off. 'Course, it's not like I don't have my own reasons for being mad at him too." Twirling the silver ring on her finger, the same outfit she had worn the night before materialized over her clothes, as well as the red-tipped spear. Crunching down on the last of the pocky dangling from her mouth, she said, "So are we gonna do this or not?" Before Rei could respond, Kyoko had already lunged at her, and she barely managed to leap out of the way.

_She's not going to give me much of a choice, it seems._ "Fire Soul!" She was satisfied to see Kyoko jump away from the burst of flame that flew from her fingertip. _Looks like I still have my old attacks as well._

"Tch. Guess you're tougher than you look!" the red-coated girl yelled, aiming a swipe at Rei's side. Catching her in her peripheral vision, Rei whipped around to meet her, grabbing onto the shaft of Kyoko's spear just below the tip. It began to smoke under her grip, and Kyoko was forced to wrench it out of the planet guardian's hands.

Realizing she had but a second to go back on the offensive, Rei summoned several ofuda scrolls in bright bursts of fire. Tracing the kanji for "shield" in the air with her finger, she thrust her hand out, and the now flaming scrolls formed a dome in front of her just as Kyoko attacked again. The red-haired magical girl cried out as she made contact with the barrier and was knocked back, an angry red burn visible on her hand from where Rei stood two yards away. "Guess there's no other choice, huh?" Rei heard her mutter. Standing up, she plucked her Soul Gem off of her chest and spun it between her fingers. Before Rei could blink, five perfect clones of Kyoko had her surrounded, each with its own wickedly sharp-looking spear.

They attacked as one, closing in from all sides. Waiting until the last possible moment, Rei jumped into the air and shouted, "Burning Mandala!" With all six Kyokos in such close proximity to each other, the floating orbs struck them all at once, causing five to vanish - and striking the real one directly in the chest. The moment she wasted trying to recover was all the black-haired girl needed. Summoning more ofuda, they bound themselves around Kyoko's wrists and ankles, lifting her up and pinning her against the wall, where she struggled to break free.

Advancing on the bound magical girl, Rei was hardly aware of the stray sparks flying from her fingertips. "Tell me the truth - what do you want with us, with Usagi? And why did you single me out tonight?" she snarled in a low voice.

"Couldn't... tell you," Kyoko panted, still struggling against the scrolls. "Ask Kyubey, it's his great plan. But as for you..." She fell still, raising her head to stare Rei directly in the eyes. "I've only seen you three times, and I can tell you would be the type of magical girl I hate, the type who lasts for a month before she gets caught off guard by a witch she dismissed as beneath her. The type who acts so haughty and above it all, but really just has some sick, slavish devotion to the job. You don't know what it's like to suffer, but you act like you're better than us anyways just because you have some kind of magical destiny crap going for you!"

"I don't know what it's like to suffer?" Rei shouted. "Were you held hostage on another planet for weeks, feeling your life force being sucked away, half convinced that you had already died? Have you been forced to fight the person you swore your life to, trying your hardest to fight against the forces controlling you, screaming internally the entire time in the one part of your mind that can still fight back? Have you had to watch your friends be taken away from you, knowing if you had just been seconds earlier, they might still be there? Do you even know what it's like to have friends, to have a mission beyond scrounging for a living, to be so dedicated to something you don't care what happens to you? You have no right to say I don't understand!"

Kyoko opened her mouth, obviously searching for a retort, but none came. "And this-" Rei finished, her voice dropping in pitch. "This is for Usagi." Pointing her right hand directly at the red-haired girl's chest, Rei called out, "Mars Snake Fire!" A great burning coil erupted from her palm, spiraling around Kyoko before seemingly being sucked into her body. Kyoko screamed for a brief moment, all bravado gone, before falling limp. The ofuda scrolls faded, and she collapsed to the ground.

Rei destransformed, standing over the still figure of the girl who had humiliated her and her comrades the night before. The faint rise and fall of her chest was the only indication Rei hadn't killed her in her anger. _Why don't I feel anything? _the dark-haired girl wondered. _Last night, this was all I wanted. But now... _A coldness was creeping up into her chest. _What did I just almost let myself become? She's still just another human girl, not some youma to be incinerated!_

She could suddenly stand the stifling air inside the train station no longer. Tearing her eyes from Kyoko's unconscious figure, she raced through the doors back into the night. She ran all three blocks back to the hotel, only stopping to breathe when she could stand it no longer. Faintly, she registered the sound of her phone ringing. Pulling it out of her pocket, Minako's winking face stared up at her from the screen. She answered.

_"Rei-chan, are you okay? It's been almost an hour, did something happen? Look, I didn't mean what I said earlier-"_

Rei cut her off. "No, it's fine. It wasn't your fault. I'm - I'm outside the hotel right now. I'll be up in a minute." Hanging up, she slowly walked into the lobby, head down. Once inside the elevator, she allowed herself a brief heaving sob before wiping her eyes. She would tell Minako what had happened in the morning. Now, all she wanted to do was sleep, although she already knew she would get none.

* * *

**Sayaka**

"And now - you're finished!" Sayaka proclaimed, driving her sword straight down the witch's center. With a final screech, the witch burst into black and gray powder, which thickened back into a Grief Seed as the labyrinth faded around her. Allowing her magical girl outfit to fade, Sayaka took it in one hand and quickly swiped it over her Soul Gem, satisfied at how much brighter its glow grew. Turning around, she saw Mr. Kaname's car also free from the witch's grasp, along with its passengers inside.

Her intention to exit the alley to call for help without causing a scene, however, would not come to be. "You! Wait! Please!" Madoka's father called. "My son - he needs help!"

Sayaka whipped around, not registering the fact that Mr. Kaname was much more likely to recognize her like this. Running to the window, she helped him as he frantically tried to push the dented door open. Finally, it popped open, and he stumbled out. Running for the backseat door, he frantically informed Sayaka of what had happened after she left to fight the witch. "We were fine for a while, but then - something bigger came. It slammed up against the door and tore right through it." With a shock of horror, Sayaka realized there was no backseat door, just a gaping hole. "It grabbed onto him, and I don't know if I made it let go before everything vanished!"

One of Mami's lessons suddenly echoed in Sayaka's mind. _If a familiar has hold of a normal human, you must make sure you defeat it before you go on to the witch. If you don't, then that human will be sucked into the labyrinth, regardless of whether or not you manage to defeat the witch. And I know from experience - you cannot bring them back._

Any sense of triumph she felt quickly turned to desperation as Mr. Kaname withdrew from the wreckage of the car, shaking his head. "He was right there... how could he be gone?" He was still repeating those words long after Sayaka had gone and the police arrived.

* * *

**Setsuna**

Setsuna was awoken from her sleep by something she hadn't felt in a long while, but instantly knew what it was. She was the guardian of time, after all. Throwing aside the covers, she was quickly overwhelmed. Pressing her fingers to her temples, the green-haired woman forced herself to focus. _Find the source of the disturbance._

Even in her human form, Setsuna was acutely aware of the state and stability of timespace. While it had been consistently more turbulent since Sailor Galaxia's attack, she had learned to block it out, thinking of it as white noise. But this - this was even more chaotic than when Small Lady had been taken by the Black Moon clan. That was a slight breeze compared to timespace now. It seemed to be bending, breaking, rewriting itself - and then it hit her. _Of course. How did I not notice it before?_

The lights in the room came on, Hotaru looking at her with concern. "Setsuna-mama? What's wrong?"

Setsuna looked over at her adopted daughter. "Two things are very out of order, Hotaru. Someone other than me has been interfering with time for a long while now, and clearly doesn't understand the consequences caused by it. I blocked it out, thinking it was just part of the mess Sailor Galaxia's invasion created, but now... everything is being thrown out of order. Anomalies are piling up on each other. If I can't make her see, then I don't even want to consider what any further repercussions could be..."

Hotaru listened to this news with an awareness Setsuna knew she would only receive from the soldier of silence. Like her, Hotaru had always been more in tune with her Senshi powers, even in her human form, and her memories of the past were much clearer as well. Finally, she spoke up. "And what about the second thing?"

The guardian of time unconsciously reached for where the belt she wore as Sailor Pluto was around her waist. "Someone - or possibly multiple people, I can't tell because of how chaotic timespace currently is - is trying to travel through time without a guide or key. And I think their goal is this timeline, in this present Mitakihara."


	11. Chapter 11

Hi everyone! Right up front, I should apologize, because this isn't exactly an actual chapter. But, I feel like you all deserve an explanation for this random hiatus (and that's all it is, I promise I am working on things!) since you've stuck with LNO this far. Basically, I'm really heavily involved with the drama program at my school, and our stage manager recently had to resign because of personal reasons. For those unfamiliar with the world of theater, the stage manager makes sure we actually have props, sets, lighting, and sometimes sound effects based on the show. Since this was very short-notice and we have a production coming up in November, all of the veteran drama kids have been called in to help with construction for the set until a new one can be hired (and where I live, we aren't exactly crawling with them, so God - or should I say Madoka? - only knows how long that's going to take). I'm helping with the set for around two hours, 2-3 nights a week, so by the time I get home most nights, any writing I may want to do often does not happen. So, until our play is over in mid-November, I'm afraid I have to declare an official hiatus. Once that date has passed, I'll get the new chapter up as soon as humanly possible! I did manage to start on it before all of this came up though, so I figure the least I can do is post a couple of excerpts from the long-anticipated Homura POV:

* * *

_Timeline estimate: 96. As usual, although it is inconvenient for my Soul Gem, writing while my powers affect my surroundings is the safest way to avoid Kyubey discovering this journal. This timeline began like every other, however, anomalies quickly began appearing in alarming numbers. 1) The return of Kyoko Sakura. While this alone is not the most uncommon occurrence, never has it happened two timelines in a row. At first, I assumed this was the result of Madoka's wish in the previous timeline. However, it seems to be reaching much further than Kazamino._

_2) The appearance of the nine magical girls referring to themselves as the Sailor Guardians. Unlike the anomaly timeline of Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure, these girls truly seem to be a type of magical girl completely different from that of ours. Kyubey has confirmed they are not present on any contract record, although when it did convince their leader, a girl by the name of Usagi Tsukino, to contract, a similar change seemed to have affected them as well. KEEP UNDER CLOSE SURVEILLANCE._

* * *

"Shut up!" she shouted. "I know I've screwed up everything since I made that stupid contract! It's all my fault that Mami almost got killed and Madoka's brother -"

A chill ran through Homura at this. "What about Madoka's brother?"

"It doesn't matter now!" Sayaka sobbed, looking up. "You can't fix it, he's gone! I got careless and let the labyrinth close on him!"

Even the very night air went quiet. Homura's eyes widened as the weight of what Sayaka was saying hit her. "Tell me everything. What happened?"

"I didn't come here looking for you!" Sayaka said with venom in her voice. "I wanted to ask Mami-san for advice! She's not like you, the only person you care about is yourself!"

* * *

I'm afraid that's all for now, don't want to spoil the really good bits just yet! But aside from the Homura-Sayaka interactions (which are extremely fun to write, by the way), I can also promise a scene for my fellow HaruMichi shippers, as well as Kyubey beginning to move in on the other Senshi. An estimate I'm willing to say is fairly solid for when I can get the next chapter out is probably around the third week of November. Until then, please hang in there! Thank you so much for your continued support!


End file.
